


Mirrored Eyes

by orphan_account



Category: House of Anubis, 僕のヒーローアカデミア | Boku no Hero Academia | My Hero Academia
Genre: Alternate Universe - House of Anubis, Alternate Universe - No Quirks (My Hero Academia), Bakugou is slightly less of an asshole than he could be, Bakusquad (My Hero Academia), Dekusquad (My Hero Academia), Gen, I act like I know shit about Egyptian mythology, It's my incredibly niche AU and I'll do what I want with it, Midoriya is a disaster bi (nothing new there), villain!aizawa
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2018-10-14
Updated: 2019-03-17
Packaged: 2019-08-02 03:37:04
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 20
Words: 83,980
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/16297442
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/orphan_account/pseuds/orphan_account
Summary: BnHA + House of Anubis AUAnubis House is a residency at U.A. Academy, where new student Izuku Midoriya finds himself facing old rivals, new friends, and a promise of treasure. Meanwhile, would-be peer Eijirou Kirishima has mysteriously gone missing, and Katsuki Bakugou will stop at nothing to unravel the surrounding conspiracy.





	1. Mirrored Eyes

Green. It was definitely green.

 

 _Green_ was Izuku Midoriya’s favorite color.

 

He loved seeing the different greens in everything around him. The vast lush green of the grass and trees, the dark and slightly faded green of the station bench he sat on, the strong metallic green of the trains as they slowly railed by, and even the green he physically personified. He always appreciated sharing the same verdant hair and bright eyes as his mother.

 

To him, green has always been such a soothing, healing color.

 

Oh, look at that, even the taxi that was called for him was dark green. _Nice._

 

“Mr. Midoriya?” came from the car.

 

“Oh! Yes, that’s me!” Midoriya picked up his bags of belongings (pastel green, of course) and ran on over to his ever so esteemed chauffeur.

 

“So, U.A. Academy,” his driver began once they were on the road again. “Lovely place, I hear.”

 

“Y-Yeah.” Midoriya shifted in his seat a little. “I’m really excited, I can’t believe I’m actually going to boarding school. I feel like I’m in Harry Potter or something.” Shamelessly, Midoriya let his inner nerd jump out. He gazed contently out the window of the car, watching all the floral greenery of the rural area slowly grow more abundant as they drove further out into the countryside- the school was very nature oriented, in spite of its constant technological advancement.

 

U.A. had always been a very prestigious institution, the top school around. Midoriya had heard plenty of sayings that the teachers always worked their absolute hardest to protect and maintain the reputation of the school, even if that meant they were a little bit stuck up- or as one particular person he knew liked to put it, _“total fucking hardasses”._

 

Ah, that’s right. He’d be going to the same school as _him_ now.

 

He sank a little in his seat at the thought. “I… I guess I am just a little nervous, though. I’ve never lived away from home before.” He jolted right back up when he felt his phone buzz.

 

“That your parents checking up on you?” his driver joked.

“It’s my mom.” Midoriya smiled at her heartfelt, but heartwarming message. They had already shared their face-to-face goodbye, but it was hard for either of them to truly stay out of touch for long. “It looks like she misses me already, too.”

 

The car went down a smaller road, going under a thick brush of leaves made by the tall woods on either side, before emerging to see the great, towering series of buildings that was U.A. Academy’s main hall. Midoriya couldn’t help but whoa in awe at the masterpiece of architecture.

 

“Where do you need to be, kiddo?”

 

“Oh, um-” Midoriya flipped through the manila envelope he’d been carrying, adorned with the sophisticated seal of the school. “It says here that I’m in the ‘Anubis House’..?” The driver gave a nod through the rear-view mirror, and pulled in towards the school.

 

* * *

 

“Move back a bit more, Kirishima.” The blond stifled a laugh behind his smile as he spoke, walking toward his redheaded companion with his phone as the other walked backward.

 

“Aw, hurry up, Bakugou!” Kirishima, on the other hand, was laughing out loud.

 

“But you’re not fuckin’ staying still!”

 

“You keep telling me to move!” Both boys continued their joke-argument and laughter while practically going in circles until Kirishima stumbled backward, promptly falling flat on his behind- and on the front of the two’s other classmate, who was leaned up against a tree while face deep in his book.

 

Bakugou didn’t hesitate for a second to click the button on his phone’s camera, capturing the awkward moment forever. “That one’s going on your wall,” He teased, before being yanked down to the ground himself- right on top of his boyfriend’s chest. Two pairs of red eyes stared into each other. _Now_ he was full-on laughing with him, too.

 

“Oh, I’m not right here or anything,” Their unwilling third wheel remarked jokingly. Kirishima sat up.

 

“ ‘The Theory of Computational Intelligence’?” He read off the cover of the hefty-looking textbook. He raised an eyebrow at him. “A bit of light reading, Todoroki?”

 

Despite his eye-roll, Todoroki gave him a genuine and friendly smile. “Just because it’s not a comic book plastered with Crimson Riot’s face, that doesn’t make it not worth reading.”

 

_Pfft. Yeah, right._

 

Nearby, the toll of the school’s old bell could be heard. Closing the book, Todoroki gathered his things and stood up, helping the other two to their feet and walking off with them. “But hey, maybe Bakugou would like it. I bet it’d be interesting to watch him try to read a multisyllabic word out loud,” he quipped.

 

“Hey!” Bakugou elbowed Todoroki in the side, neither he nor Kirishima having gotten over their fit of laughter.

 

* * *

  

“Welcome to Hogwarts,” Midoriya kidded to himself. He stood absolutely awestruck at the immense, almost castle-like school building. The gonging sound of the school’s bell tower tuned him out as he stared off into the space in front of him. Ultimately, his momentary ignorance let him miss his driver- and apparent porter- escort his bags through the nearby greenspace. “H-Hey! Wait up!” Midoriya took off in the same direction. As he ran through the quite small but lively campus, he glanced around at all his surroundings _except_ that which was straight ahead. He was still so fixated on his beautiful new environment, he hoped it would be one he could enjoy. Provided, of course, he didn’t by any chance run into-

 

Midoriya collided with a figure he _surprisingly_ hadn’t seen in his path. “Oh! I’m so sorr-”

 

...Kacchan.

 

Midoriya felt the hair on his neck stand straight on end. He held eye contact with the all too familiar boy for a good moment, stammering out another apology to the blond’s entourage as he ran off again. Bakugou, after his own moment of dumbfoundedness, scoffed and stormed off himself as Kirishima and Todoroki exchanged equally confused looks.

 

In time, Midoriya caught up to his driver, fishing some change out of his pocket for a tip and offering a slightly winded thanks, and dispersing after receiving a smile and nod of acknowledgement. Once he caught his breath, he found the rest of his luggage set alongside the short stone steps that led up to another building. The large victorian-style house loomed over him, the afternoon sun behind it casting a cooling shadow over the front yard. Hung from the brick ceiling of the veranda was a long, golden-colored banner that read the namesake of the house in a stylized engraving:

 

**ANUBIS**

 

 _Well, here he was._ Bags in hand, Midoriya made his way up to the doors. Before he could reach for the ornate handle on the tall doors, they appeared to part open on their own with a steady groan. Taken aback, Midoriya stood still for a moment, and then carried himself into the spacious foyer.

 

The inside of the house seemed even more gothic than the outside. His light, echoed footsteps across the polished marble floor were practically deafening against the silent background, but easily surpassed by the _actually_ deafening sound of the doors abruptly shutting behind him. He whipped around to, yet again, see nothing that could have moved the doors. He caught his breath, only to lose it again after turning back around to a figure standing suddenly in front of him.

 

“Isn’t the doorbell working? Hm?” He said.

 

Midoriya blinked. “Er, yeah? I- uh, I mean, I think. The door, uh- the door was open, so I-”

 

“So you thought you could just walk straight in.” The man moved a lock of his long, black hair off his face.

 

“Um,” Midoriya stuttered for a moment, as the man drew a pocket watch from his waistcoat. “I’m… Midoriya? Izuku Midoriya.”

 

“Welcome to Anubis House,” He said, not breaking his gaze away. He kept a calm, but almost ominous monotony in his voice. “My name is Shouta Aizawa. I am the house caretaker.” He turned away from his watch to glare at the boy. “And _you_ are late. _Two weeks_ late.”

 

“Yeah,” Midoriya shrunk back slightly. “We didn’t find out about the scholarship until-”

 

“I’m not interested in the reason why you are late.” Aizawa pocketed his watch and turned to walk away, motioning for the boy to follow, which he did after a moment of hesitation. Midoriya had a hard enough time already keeping up with this Aizawa person’s words, he figured he should at least keep up in person.

 

* * *

 

Kirishima could feel the aggravation coming off of Bakugou as if he were spilling it into the air. Sure, Bakugou had always had a hair trigger temper, but he was never one to care about something like a shoulder bump- assuming he would even acknowledge it at all. The redhead reached to hold his hand the rest of the way to class, just to show a little sympathy to his clear distress, only for him to pull back away. Bakugou was often grumpy, but hardly to this degree.

 

“Hey, Bakugou, look what came in the mail this morning.” Kirishima produced a box from his backpack; a combined DVD case with the complete set of classic All Might movies. He and Bakugou were both all about superhero movies- as much as Kirishima had wanted to surprise him with it later, he thought now might be a good opportunity to cheer him up as they sat down at their shared desk. “Boyfriend box set marathon tonight?”

 

Bakugou, in his visible but diminishing state of frustration, returned a faint smile. “Yeah, you’re on.” The school’s indoor bell, much faster and louder than the other one, rang to signal the start of the class period. The rest of the students conversed and milled about as they waited for Ms. Kayama- who arrived a moment later.

 

“Afternoon, class.” She pushed her bright red cateye glasses up the bridge of her nose. “To your seats, please. As promised, today we will be having a practice exam,” She said, rousing a light groan out of half the class amongst the murmuring and side-chatter. This, however, was overshadowed by the student in the room who was talking the loudest.

 

“Urgh, but you _totally_ have to come with us, Yaomomo!”

 

“Phone off please, Miss Ashido.” Ms. Kayama spoke in a sense that seemed almost routine as she returned her attention to the blackboard.

 

“But Toru invited Kyouka and everything!” Ashido, in her excitement, dismissed her surroundings in favor of her conversation- until the rest of her classmates filed in.

 

“Hey, Mina!”

 

Ashido gasped. “ _SORRYGOTTAGOI’MINSCHOOL_ ,” she whisper-yelled as slammed her phone down, turning address her classmates and friends. “Ochako! Tsuyu! It’s SO great to see you two again!” Ashido joyfully squealed, returning the sound in the room to nearly triple-digit decibels.

 

“We live in the same house, Mina,” Uraraka laughed as she sat down beside her, Asui simply returning a smile and wave as she sat on Ashido’s other side. Another late student came in the door, uniform hastily thrown on over his athletic clothes, and clearly out of breath. It was questionable if his windedness was from sportively running, or running to the class.

 

“I apologize for my tardiness, Ms. Kayama!” His stance was rigid in the doorway. “My last session seemed to have gone off track!” A ‘boo’ came from a yellow-haired boy at his unintended pun, which seemed to go over his own head. Stifled laughter came from across the rest of the room as he took his seat near Todoroki.

 

“You might’ve changed first, Mr. Iida.” Kayama handed him a test copy and moved on. “If through nothing else, just try not to perspire all over the paper.”

 

In the back of the room, said yellow-haired boy leaned low onto the table, fumbling with a small foil packet and a napkin. “Watch yourself, buddy,” his deskmate said as he flicked him on the shoulder.

 

“Pssh.” He elbowed Sero back, giggling.

 

“Alright,” Kayama began, “You will have one hour exactly to complete the exam-”

 

“Miss K?”

 

“Yes, Kaminari?”

 

“Nosebleed. It’s a gusher.”

 

“Infirmary, quickly.” She waved her hand at the door as if to shoo him before dismissing her attention again. As he walked to the door, Kaminari flashed two fingers at his peers to brag his fabricated free pass out.

 

“Class clown’s at it again, huh?” Uraraka commented rhetorically.

 

“You see, Ochako,” Tusyu began. She pointed a finger up like she was citing a distinguished speech. “When you do clownery, the clown comes back to bite.” The trio of girls snickered at her meme quotation. As he hurried out the door, Kaminari nearly crashed into another person coming in, earning a couple of “oooh”s at the revelation of their own principal- Mr. Nezu. The girls wondered if this was Kaminari’s biting clown. Nezu, however, remained calm and content as ever.

 

 _“Festina lente_ , boy,” he quoted in Latin. “More haste, less speed.” He patted Kaminari on the back and sent him on his way. “Apologies for the interruption, Nemuri. Mr. Kirishima?” The student perked up at the sound of his name. “There’s someone to see you in my office.” He gave his principal a nod, and Bakugou a quick peck on the cheek before collecting his things and leaving the room. Another wave of resounding “oooh”s came, but with a different tone to them. Bakugou’s take of it was simply to grumble in embarrassment.

 

* * *

 

“The Anubis estate was claimed and this house built in the year 1890. But it was not actually named Anubis until some decades later.” Aizawa presented a brief history lesson of the house as he led Midoriya through the living room. “You could say the school was built around it, after its status of private land was retired, even later than that.”

 

The living room was lined with two large, leather couches and some matching chairs. Antique furniture and other decorations dotted the room, and Midoriya thought they must have been museum grade at least. An entire standing sarcophagus was displayed near the hallway, for example. A globe and telescope lay set up near the front window, dust collected along the frames, and the broad fireplace nearby was dormant during the warm spring weather. The room, of course, had its evidence of modern livelihood as well; a flat screen television sat on a table in the corner of the room, several movie and video game boxes stacked about the sides.

 

“House residents are responsible for their own messes,” Aizawa continued in the kitchen. “I may be the caretaker, but I am most certainly not your maid.” His words registered with Midoriya, but his focus was elsewhere. In the living room, near the long dining table, a tall painting was mounted on the wall; Two people, a man and woman, were depicted.

 

“Mr. and Mrs. Yagi.” Midoriya jumped at Aizawa’s sudden voice behind him. “The original landlords and inhabitants. They died in a _very_ tragic accident,” he affirmed, rather bluntly. Midoriya wasn’t sure how else to take that.

 

Aizawa’s impromptu tour led the two back into the foyer. “The the ratio of student residents in Anubis House right now are three girls to six boys, yourself included. The girls’ room is in there-” he pointed down the hall to a set of double doors- “In the Yagis’ former master bedroom. The boys’ rooms are upstairs.” Aizawa started up the staircase, Midoriya trailing behind him. “Everyone is to be in the house- and, preferably, _not_ wandering around- by nine o’clock. Lights out at ten o’clock.” At the top of the stairs, a balcony overlooked the entrance hall of the house. Two doors on either end, one of which was right next to the staircase. “My office.” Aizawa pointed the other door, which led to a long room perpendicular to the balcony. “Needless to say, it is strictly off limits.” He turned to the other door, opening it into another hallway. Several doors made up this part of the second floor; the door to the boy’s bathroom lay open, and two more doors on the opposite wall led into bedrooms. This section of the hallway crossed with the other, which led up to one single standing door that looked considerably older than the rest.

 

“What’s in there?” Midoriya broke his own awkward silence. Aizawa, with only a partial regard to his new resident, stepped over to the door. He turned at the knob, it’s slight resistance confirming it was locked.

 

“Going up into the attic or down into the cellar is strictly forbidden. Is that clear?”

 

“Crystal.” Midoriya wondered if looks truly could kill.

 

A telephone rang from outside the hallway, drawing Aizawa’s attention. “This is your room in here,” he said, waving toward the leftmost bedroom. “Your trunks have arrived, so I’ll leave you to unpack.” Midoriya breathed out as he left. _Wasn’t he just a ray of sunshine._

 

The walls of the bedroom were painted a deep army green, with an elaborate cream-colored moulding around the bases of the floor and ceiling. Much like the rest of the house, the room had a very antiquated feeling- countered by the scattered elements of modern day teenagers having lived in there. One bed and a desk stood completely bare, both of which he assumed were his domicile canvases and promptly went to make. the other two, while occupied, were fairly minimalist. Whoever it was that he’d be rooming with, though, it seemed one of them had quite the affinity for black, orange,

 

...and red.

 

Green was Midoriya’s favorite color. He’d always felt a little iffy about red.

 

* * *

 

 

The phone’s ringing continued as Aizawa reached his office, and picked up to answer. “Aizawa.” He bluntly greeted his caller. “Is it done?”

 

…

 

“Good.”

 

…

 

“No, his friends won’t be a problem.” He closed the desk phone, sitting down at his desk. The silent aura that he favored during the students lessons had returned.

 

“We’ll make sure of that, shan’t we, Furvus?” Aizawa reached a hand out to pet the taxidermied black cat standing almost- well, fervently on the desk.

 

* * *

 

Any student of Ms. Kayama was quick to pick up on her rather strict testing policies. She was particularly peeved at wandering eyes- everyone was to keep their eyes fixed on their papers, and nowhere else. As such, nobody would usually see little things that happened around them. They wouldn’t see cars as they drove past the window. They wouldn’t notice the specific, questionably tinted car that pulled up to the main entrance of the school, which was visible from the classroom’s windows. They wouldn’t notice Kirishima, as he was brought out to the car with Mr. Nezu at his side- or that he’d back away a little bit, but be given a polite yet firm reassurance from his principal as he hesitantly took the hand from inside the vehicle. Certainly, they wouldn’t pay any mind to the ordinary car driving away.

 

After the exam, Kaminari’s ‘gusher’ had made a total, miraculous recovery- his form of celebration was to don his toy werewolf mask and playfully claw at his best friend in the middle of the hallway, who made equally playful protests.

 

“Hey.” Bakugou nudged his way between the two. “Either of you guys seen Kiri?”

 

“Ar, rar, rara rar rah?” Although Kaminari could speak just fine through the cheap lump of rubber and fur if he wanted to, he chose to play the part. He motioned a flat hand at his shoulder as if to ask “This tall?”

 

“You’re shorter than him, dude,” Sero teased.

 

“Ha-fucking-ha.” Bakugou, to no one’s surprise, was unamused. “No, seriously, I was just at nuzzle’s office and he wasn’t there.” Principal Nezu was known for loving small animals, and he even kept several in his office- he had a couple hamsters, an aquarium of fish, a canary, a bunny, at one point some mice (removed at complaint of the staff), and a rumor suggested there was even a puppy somewhere. This nature of his earned the nickname “nuzzle” from most students.

 

“Maybe he’s back at the house?” Sero suggested.

 

“Rar.”

 

Bakugou eased a little. “Yeah, that must be it.” As Kaminari’s growls and Sero’s laughter restarted behind him, Bakugou made a beeline towards the boarding house. Maybe he was being irrational, but he left so suddenly and out of nowhere. He couldn’t help feeling a little nervous about it- even if he’d never admit it.

 

 _Everything was fine,_ he assured himself. He probably just went straight to his room after the final bell was all. Nothing was wrong, he totally wasn’t in any kind of trouble, and-

 

 _...and Deku of all people sure as_ **_hell_ ** _wasn’t in the bed that Kirishima should be in right now._

 

“What the _fuck_?!” Bakugou was known to raise his voice, but was through the roof in a few seconds. Naturally, the familiarity of his ear-splitting yell sat Midoriya up in an instant.

 

“K-Kacchan!” The boy went into full blown panic mode. Why. Why, why, _why_ did it have to be him. “L-Look, I’m sorry I bumped into you today, I’m sorry I didn’t tell you I was gonna be here, I-I-”

 

“Who fucking cares? Where are Kirishima’s things? What the hell is going on?!” Bakugou’s clenched fists were trembling. He dropped his backpack to the floor in frustration, knocking over the wastepaper bin next to Midoriya’s- Kirishima’s bed? Midoriya hadn’t noticed that, despite the total vacancy of that corner of the room, that trash bin was completely full. Bakugou’s eyes widened to discover one of the spilled contents- a red cellphone, with a large crack along the screen.

 

“Did you do this?” he yelled, shoving the phone in Midoriya’s face. “Did you steal this?” Not giving him a chance to speak at all, Bakugou stomped over the bed and started throwing anything he could reach off into the hallway.

 

“Hey, stop that! I just got here, I-I don’t even know what- who’s Kirishima?”

 

Bakugou got mad a lot. Often. Usually. Now he was _completely, utterly pissed_.

 

He threw down one of Midoriya’s pillows and shoved his way back into the room, going over to his own desk and throwing open a drawer. He retrieved a polaroid depicting himself and another boy, who Midoriya only vaguely recognized from earlier that day.

 

“Eijirou Kirishima. You _saw_ him today. I saw you see him today!” Through Bakugou’s continuous yelling, Midoriya swore he could hear his voice crack. “I don’t fucking _care_ why you’re here, but you’re not my roommate. Kirishima is. Now where the hell is he?!”

 

His cold, hard gaze stared him down, something he’d say he was used to- but those eyes. _Those_ _goddamn eyes._ Bakugou’s red eyes had always terrified Midoriya.

 

It was no wonder he didn’t really like the color red.

  



	2. Haze

“Did you hear what I said? Where the fuck is Kirishima?!”

 

“I- I don’t know! The room was empty when I got here.”

 

“I don’t believe you!”

 

The sound of Bakugou bickering was akin to white noise to Anubis House residents, but rarely did he ever try to get physical. It was enough to drive Aizawa out of his office, though.

 

“Katsuki Bakugou, what’s going on?” Aizawa’s demeanor was as apathetic as ever, if visibly annoyed.

 

“That’s what I want to know! Why is _he_ in that bed? Why is it even empty? Where’s Kirish-”

 

“Kirishima has left,” Aizawa interrupted.

 

“What the hell do you mean, he’s left?!”

 

“Watch your tone with me, boy. His parents came to the school this afternoon and removed him.”

 

“Wh- but- that’s bullshit! Why would they do that?”

 

“I have no absolutely no idea, alright?” Aizawa turned on his foot mid-sentence, only stopped when Bakugou grabbed him by the sleeve.

 

“Kirishima wouldn’t leave without saying goodbye! Or without his phone!” Bakugou waved the cracked device at him.

 

“Then give it to me, and I’ll forward it to him.” Aizawa took the phone before Bakugou had a chance to react. “Now clear this mess up,” He said as he left. “Dinner will be ready in ten minutes- and if I were you, I would try dropping the attitude.”

 

“Fuck you!” Bakugou hollered at the door as it closed in his face. He turned and elbowed his way past Midoriya hard, slamming and locking his own door- or _their_ own, rather. What confused him the most was not that Bakugou had locked Midoriya out, but himself as well. Midoriya simply stood stunned in the pile of his bedsheets. _His taste for spite hadn’t changed, it seemed._

 

* * *

 

Downstairs, the rest of the Anubis House residents had long since returned themselves- all engaged in casual evening merriment. Those who weren’t enlisted right away by their almighty majesty, the chore chart, were catching up on each other’s days with a pleasant conversation in the living room. Well, as pleasant as could be without Bakugou’s interjections.

 

“Nobody has Kirishima’s home phone number?” He thew himself onto the couch with his arms folded.

 

“That’s ‘cause this _is_ his home, duh,” Ashido replied, completely engrossed in her own phone.

 

“Just call his cell, then?” Kaminari, likewise, was buried in his Game Boy. He certainly wasn’t called “Pikachu” for nothing.

 

“Keep up, _Dense-ki,_ ” Bakugou fumed. “I told you, he left his phone behind.” He jabbed a finger at his temple. “Stupidity leak.”

 

“So they’ve already got someone else in his bed?” Todoroki looked up from his book. _At least he was able to acknowledge him with eye contact_.

 

“Yeah, it’s that asshole that rammed into me earlier today.”

 

“And Kirishima’s just… gone?” Sero added from the other end of the room as he and Tsuyu set the table. “That really is weird.”

 

“Yeah. We were gonna have a box set marathon tonight. How could he have just left?”

 

“Maybe he was abducted by aliens, and this new kid’s one of them in disguise!” It was hard to tell if Ashido was being sarcastic or not, considering-

 

“You always answer the unexplained with aliens, Mina,” said Uraraka.

 

“‘Unexplained’ doesn’t mean I’ve been wrong yet!” she retorted.

 

“But it _was_ explained,” Tsu pointed out. “Aizawa said himself that his parents just took him home was all.”

 

“He would’ve called me though!” Bakugou continued his argument, rousing more input from everyone else around him. The discourse only ceased when another, new face decided to make their acquaintance. The whole room stared in anticipation.

 

“H-Hi! Uh. I’m Midoriya.” Geez. He knew he was a walking ball of awkwardness, but since when was it this contagious? Bakugou immediately scoffed and walked away.

 

“Hey,” Todoroki whispered, waving. Uraraka and Tsuyu also waved, quietly.

 

“Welcome, Space Boy,” Ashido said to him. “Or should I say: _Bleep! Blap! Blorp!_ As they do in your language.” She pointed two fingers between his eyes and her own, earning a couple laughs from Kaminari and Sero. _Wow, and he thought Kacchan’s behavior was confusing._

 

“Dinner’s ready!” Iida called through the indoor kitchen window, instantly bringing the rest of them out of their awkward funk- and off of their sofa seats. With Sero and Tsuyu, the three of them finished making plates and setting the table as the rest of them went to sit down.

 

“That’s my fuckin’ seat,” Bakugou growled at Midoriya.

 

“Oh, I’m sorry, did you w-”

 

“That’s just your way, isn’t it? Someone’s gone for five seconds and you’ve already planted your ass in their place.”

 

“Bakugou's head of the welcoming committee, apparently.” Todoroki leered at the blond, his gaze softening when he turned to address Midoriya directly. “Don’t worry about him, just sit where you like.” Bakugou slumped down next to Todoroki, who sat directly across from Midoriya.

 

“Thanks.” Midoriya smiled a little. In one hand, He took a filled plate from the tall, bespectacled boy- and to his surprise, a firm grip in the other.

 

“It’s a pleasure to meet you, Midoriya!” Iida said as he shook his hand vigorously.

 

“Y-Yeah, you too.” Midoriya took his seat at the table as well. He sat for a moment, waiting, before he had noticed that everyone else had already dug in. “Hey, shouldn’t we wait for Mr. Aizawa first?” he asked. He was always raised by his mother to use his manners, and even if it was usually just the two of them together at meals, he knew by heart that it was polite to wait for all the tables patrons to be seated before eating.

 

“Bold of you to assume he eats and doesn’t _feed,_ ” Kaminari said through a full mouth. This time it was Ashido’s turn to laugh alongside Sero, while Bakugou mumbled something under his breath towards him about chewing with his mouth closed. Bakugou had often gotten the same lessons on table manners as a kid that Midoriya had, and not by coincidence- but his surly nature often warped the connotations of his words.

 

“Nah, he just hates us,” Tsuyu exaggerated with her resting face of unreadable emotion.

 

“He just doesn’t eat with us.” Uraraka leaned over to him to speak. She could acknowledge Tsu’s hyperbole, but Midoriya seemed infinitely lost. “Probably can’t blame him though, he _does_ kinda hate-”

 

“Kaminari, _please_ do not play with your food!” Iida tried to speak with some authority as the boy in question tried to launch forkfuls into his mouth by slamming his hand onto its handle.

 

“-Immaturity,” she finished. The earlier conversation from the living room carried on to the table, minus Bakugou’s interruption- who was now abnormally quiet and picking at his food. After a long series of discussions ranging from classes, gossip, and inside jokes Midoriya never hoped for the life of him to understand, one voice asked for his attention.

 

“So, what brings you here to U.A., Midoriya?” Iida asked from his other side.

 

“Uh, well,” Midoriya started, nervous to find all eyes on him again. “I just happened to score high on my exams last winter, and I got scouted with a scholarship offer. Nothing big really, I guess. It feels great to be here, I’ve heard lots of good things about this school.”

 

“Well then, great to have you! You seem like a nice young man, yourself.”

 

“Yeah!” Uraraka agreed. As shy as he was, Midoriya couldn’t hide his smile at the praise. Bakugou coughed.

 

“I probably could’ve been here sooner, though,” he continued. “My mom and I didn’t find out about the scholarship right away, so, yeah.”

 

“Just you and your mom? What about your dad?” Sero blurted before giving his words any thought, quieting the whole table. Todoroki stiffened up a little. Even Bakugou stopped brooding long enough to hold half a second of eye contact with Midoriya, because he at least already knew.

 

“He, uh… he left. When I was a little kid.” Midoriya spoke almost with content despite the despondency that had settled on the room. “Neither of us have heard anything of him in years.”

 

“Oh… I’m sorry to hear that.” Uraraka offered a hand to his shoulder.

 

“Hey, sorry man,” Sero also apologized. “I shouldn’t have assumed.” Some more words of sympathy came from around the table.

 

Midoriya shrugged. “It’s okay. It was a long time ago. My mom and I are really close.”

 

“Yeah?” Bakugou spoke up. “Then how come she’s packed you off to a big, bad boarding school? _Miles_ away from home, eh? Sounds to me like she wanted to get rid-”

 

Todoroki kicked the leg of Bakugou’s chair, causing it to scoot back several inches. “Bakugou! Don’t be such an asshole!” he yelled. Everyone else froze. “We all know you’re upset about Kirishima, but you don’t need to take it out on Midoriya!” Midoriya didn’t know what to say.

 

“The language was rather unnecessary, Todoroki…” Iida said. “But he’s right, Bakugou. You have no reason to be so disrespectful!”

 

Bakugou dragged his chair in, loudly. “You know what else is fuckin’ disrespectful? How everyone's already forgetting about Kirishima. Except me.” The table was silent after that. Nobody spoke again until the end of the mood-killed meal.

 

“...Perhaps it’s time to clean up. Who’s turn is it?” Iida asked. Everyone looked over to the chore chart, displayed on a dry-erase board in the kitchen window.

 

**COOKING:   Iida            Sero ~~Asui~~ Tsu :P**

**CLEANING:  Todoroki   Bakugou   K  i   ' na**

**LAUNDRY:   Uraraka     Kaminari   Ashido**

 

Kirishima’s name, which Iida had written on the board just that morning, was lazily wiped off. Even if the daily arrangements on the chart were purely chance, Bakugou had done plenty of chores together with Kirishima- It almost made them tolerable. Without him, that had to mean-

 

“I... guess I can help clean instead?” Midoriya immediately regretted opening his mouth when Bakugou looked his way, his perpetual scowl turning into a smirk.

 

“Yeah, _Deku_ . That’s a good idea.” Bakugou’s elbow that had been resting on the table suddenly jerked, sending the nearby pitcher of iced water toppling right into Midoriya’s lap, who yelped in surprise. “Whoops, _sorry_. Better clean it up.”

 

“Bakugou!” Even Kaminari had gotten fed up with the obnoxious blond.

 

His face dropped again. “And while you’re at it, how about you fucking _come_ clean. Where’s Kirishima?”

 

“I already said, I don’t know anything about him!” Midoriya was already shivering.

 

“Oh, come the fuck on. One minute, I’m sitting next to him in class, and the next he’s disappeared- and _you_ of all people are in his place. What a fucking coincidence, huh?”

 

He choked back a sob. “Maybe that's just what it is.”

 

“Telephone for Midoriya.” in the midst of the argument, nobody heard Aizawa come down stairs, who sighed unamusedly at the mess. “What’s going on?” He groaned.

 

“Nothing, he just spilled water everywhere. Fucking klutz.” Bakugou grabbed his empty plate and stormed off into the kitchen. Without a word from either, Aizawa sighed again and left back upstairs- while Midoriya, gripping onto his dignity by a thin thread, paced to the foyer while trying not to leave a puddle in his wake.

 

* * *

 

Near the foot of the stairs was a small end table flanked with two armchairs. On the table was an old rotary phone, sitting off of the register and emanating faint feedback- indicating the line was in use. Wringing the hem of his t-shirt out one more time, he sat down and put the phone to his ear. “Hello?”

 

“Hey, sweetie. How’s Harry Potter land?”

 

He couldn’t hold his tears back anymore. “Mom! Hey.”

 

“Go on, go on! Tell me all about it. What’s it like?”

 

He wiped his eye. “It- It’s great. It’s just how I imagined it’d be.”

 

“You made any new friends yet?”

 

“Y-Yeah, a lot… everyone here is-” He sniffled. “Everyone is _so_ nice.”

 

“I knew you would.” Izuku smiled through his sadness, his breath hitched as he tried not to truly cry. “Izuku, hon, are you okay?”

 

“Oh, y-yeah Mom, I’m good. I’m great,” he lied. “Um… you see, we’re in the middle of dinner, so…”

 

Inko’s voice hesitated for a moment. “Yes, yes, I understand. You should go. Don’t let me stop you.”

 

His tearducts welled up to their tipping point. “Okay. I’ll call you soon, Mom.”

 

“Only if you have time, sweetheart. I love you.”

 

“I love you too.”

 

_Click_

 

All the rest of his feelings clicked at once, too. He didn’t bother trying to hold them back anymore. He just allowed himself to cry for a good while- not overly loud, but not unnoticeable either.

 

“Are you okay?” he heard himself be asked again as he calmed. at the corner in the nearby hallway, Midoriya recognized the boy who had sat across from him at the table.

 

“Uh- yeah. Yeah, it’s, uh- it’s just allergies,” Midoriya lied- again. “You guys have cats, right?”

 

“I don’t think the stuffed one counts.” he smiled, moving to sit down next to him. Midoriya couldn’t help a small giggle himself through his lachrymose fatigue, despite his blatant lie having been seen through instantly. “Oh, here.” He noticed the boy had brought with him some towels, and a glass of water, both of which he gladly accepted. “I’m Todoroki, by the way,” he said as he offered his hand. He’d realized that no one had ever made any official introduction of themselves, but rather he just caught on to names as they were thrown around in conversation. Todoroki, however, had few words for most of dinner, his own name seemingly included.

 

“Midoriya.” It crossed his mind a second later. “Oh, wait, you know that already.” Todoroki chuckled, before his face fell a little more serious.

 

“You know, it’s okay if you’re not okay.”

 

Midoriya dabbed a towel at his soaking clothes. “Okay, maybe I’m _not_ feeling my best right now.”

 

“I gathered.” Todoroki shrugged. “Bakugou’s not exactly sunshine and happiness. But I also gather that you already knew that.” Midoriya looked up at him. “You guys know each other, don’t you?”

 

Midoriya, still shivering slightly, wrapped another dry towel around himself. “Yeah. Childhood friends- used to be, anyway. We basically grew up together. Not so friendly now, I know.”

 

“That’s putting it lightly.”

 

“Yeah,” Midoriya laughed a little. “We just kind of… fell apart. I can’t explain it, really. It just kind of happened.”

 

“That must’ve been hard on you.” He nodded. “And uh, I know everyone else said it, but I’m sorry to hear about your dad too." He put a hand up to his own eye. "I know what that sort of thing’s like.” The two boys sat in silence for a few minutes while Midoriya continued drying himself. Even with the towels, though, his underclothes were still damp and chafing. Todoroki took the sopping towels. “I can take care of the dishes with him. I think the only cleaning you ought to worry about right now is yourself.”

 

Midoriya smiled, the first genuinely happy one in a while. “Thank you, Todoroki.”

 

* * *

 

After dinner had fully concluded, Midoriya had found the door to his bedroom had been opened again. Apparently Iida was his second roommate, and he had Aizawa open the door while Midoriya was on the phone. After remaking his part of the bedroom, getting a hot shower, and changing into some dry clothes, the time was still hardly 7:30. He decided on a walk to calm the rest his nerves- he needed to get a lay of the campus land, anyway.

 

The sun had set even further behind the house than when he arrived earlier that day, its large shadow casting a chilling but calm ambience over the land amidst the colorful warmth of the sky. He walked along the wide gravel path, the crunching beneath his feet the only sound to his ears. It didn’t take long for him to round the sharp corner of a brick wall in the garden, nearly running straight into a human figure for the second time that day.

 

“Oh! I’m sorry, are you alright?” A man stood in front of Midoriya- he was tall, rather thin and hunched over, with a slight limp in his walk.

 

“That’s my house.” he smiled, pointing over his shoulder toward Anubis House in the near distance.

 

Midoriya helped the man sit down on a nearby bench. “Err, I’m sorry, I don’t think so. You see, It’s a school.”

 

“That’s my house!” he said again, his smile wide and bright.

 

“Um, okay? Sure, it’s your house.” The man appeared to be quite elderly- Midoriya didn’t want to assume anything, but he must’ve had some confusion. “Here, you’ll get cold...” Midoriya unzipped his hoodie and draped it around his back in an attempt to be chivalrous. It may have been springtime, but the evenings were still chilly. “Uh, would you like me to walk you back to your home?”

 

“It’s you, isn’t it?” He looked up at the boy, smiling even more. “I knew you’d come!”

 

“I’m sorry, sir, I-I don’t know-”

 

“Toshinori.” He took Midoriya’s hand in both his own. “ _Toshinori_. My name is Toshinori.”

 

“Uhm, okay Toshinori,” Midoriya said as he tried to help him stand back up. “Why don’t you come to the house? I can get some help, and-”

 

“No!” Toshinori's smile had dropped into a frown of fear in an instant. “No, I can’t- I can’t go in there!” He started shaking a little.

 

“Hey, hey, it’s okay! It’s alr-”

 

“He’s waiting. He’s _always_ waiting.” 

 

“Okay, don’t worry! We won’t go in the house, it’ll be alright. Here,” Midoriya helped Toshinori onto his feet, one arm in his own.

 

* * *

 

Taxidermied animals are incredibly fragile, and require constant maintenance- so naturally, Aizawa devoted himself to it to the upkeep of his own. He had a drawer of tools and supplies in his office desk, and he knew many of the basic rules about the practice. It may not have been listed, but he was sure that one of them could include ‘do not throw an inward door open that could nearly hit the desk and almost ruin the entire work,’ and yet his resident rulebreaker felt the need to do so anyway.

 

“What?” He grumbled, not looking away from the cat.

 

“Can I have Kirishima’s home phone number?” Bakugou, despite speaking in the form of a question, toned his voice in a way that sounded demanding.

 

“No.”

 

“Sorry,” he said sarcastically. “Can I _please_ have Ki-”

 

“No, it’s against school rules to give out personal details. Now go away.”

 

Bakugou stomped. “You _will_ send those back to him tomorrow, right?” He pointed to a small pile of Kirishima’s things that he had found around the house, crowned with his cracked cellphone.

 

“Yes, I’ve told you already.” Aizawa’s impatience was palpable. “Now leave me alone.” Bakugou slammed the door again on his way out, shaking the room. Aizawa closed his eyes, and breathed. _The boy was damn near unstable._

 

Kirishima’s cellphone was cracked. Aizawa didn’t know if it had been from Bakugou mindlessly uprooting the bedroom, from Kirishima himself, or when he simply threw it into the bin earlier that day. Not that he minded, it just made the screen that much easier to shatter altogether. It’s not like he could burn it with the rest of his things; the battery was an explosive hazard.

 

Kind of like how Bakugou would be if he kept this up.

 

* * *

 

U.A.’s campus was very rural, but it wasn’t the only building in the area. About a mile away from Anubis House, which already lay on the edge of campus, was a retirement home that Midoriya had deduced was Toshinori’s point of origin. Sure enough, the duo was greeted right away.

 

“It’s not like you to go wandering, Sora.” A nurse who worked in the home had come to escort Toshinori- Sora?- back to his room.

 

“Sora?” Midoriya asked.

 

“Yes, that’s his name, Mr. Sora Hiko. He’s rather delirious, as you’ve probably realized.” She brought him into a bedroom, his apparent name printed on the door. “Truth is, we know very little about his background. Isn’t that right, Sora?” She spoke louder in her last sentence.

 

“There’s no need to shout. I’m not deaf, you know.” His gaze was focused on the ground. As the nurse sat him down in his bed, Midoriya couldn’t help looking around his room.

 

“Hey, that’s Anubis House.” He saw an oil painting of the house on the wall of the room. “He said he used to live there.”

 

“Hm, I doubt it. But with some of these old folks you never know.” She covered the man’s lap with his comforter. “There we go. That’s much better, isn’t it Sora? Now, can I get you anything young man? Maybe a glass of water before you get back?”

 

“Yes please,” Midoriya said. “That’d be nice.” The nurse nodded, and left the two be.

 

The man in the bed immediately straightened back up. “I’ve been waiting so long,” he said. “Keeping the secret.”

 

Midoriya hesitated, before sitting down at the bedside. “I’m sorry, Mr. Sora, I-I don’t-”

 

“ _Toshinori,_ ” he said. He reached behind his neck, unclasping a necklace he apparently wore. “Please, take this. Quickly.” He pressed to necklace into his hands. Midoriya stared into the pendant on the necklace, and it stared back. The golden trim of the eye shaped charm framed what must’ve been its iris- a round, green gemstone the size of his fingernail. “But keep it well hidden, or they’ll take it from you.” Toshinori stared off into space. “They take everything away from you in the end.”

 

“I… I can’t possibly take this-”

 

“Please. It will keep you safe.” Toshinori’s eyes were pleading. Midoriya was completely speechless. “There’s treasure in that house. Only _you_ have the power to find it and protect it. But you _must_ be careful. There’s a danger in that house, too. A terrible darkness. _Evil._ ”

 

“Evil?” This was too much for him to take in at once. “I-I don’t… I’m sorry, Sora, I don’t think-”

 

“ _Toshinori!_ My name is Toshinori, and I know you!” He leaned in, clipping the necklace around the boy’s neck, and placing a hand on his shoulder. “And you know me, Izuku.”

 

_Now he was scared._

 

“H-How… How do you… know my name?”

 

“You must beware the black cat, Izuku, do you hear me?” Toshinori laid back down onto his bed. “Beware the black cat.”

 

* * *

 

The bell of the foyer’s grandfather clock rang through the entire house.

 

“It’s ten o’clock,” Aizawa announced. “You should be upstairs already,” he said to Kaminari, who was racing up the steps.

 

“I’m going, I’m going.”

 

He continued out loud. “You have five minutes precisely, and then I want to be able to hear a pin drop.” As he spoke, Aizawa drew the stickpin attached to the lapel of his coat, holding it high in the air, finally dropping as he finished his speech.

 

_Clink_

 

_…_

 

_Knock knock_

 

“I can still hear something.” _knock knock._ Aizawa opened the front door to find Midoriya, who he didn’t even know had left the house.

 

“Not only did you not sign out to leave on a school night, but you’ve missed your curfew.”

 

“Well, I’ve still got four minutes, don’t I?” he asked. Aizawa’s unwavering stare was all the 'no' he needed. Taking the hint, Midoriya ducked his head and trotted up the stairs.

 

* * *

 

“Three minutes,” Aizawa called out again.

 

Bakugou muttered to himself as he stepped out of the shower. “Yeah, yeah, Captain Curfew, don’t get your fuckin’ panties in a twist.” He hurried and dried himself off, and turned to the mirror above the sink to brush his teeth once he was dressed. Rather than see himself look back, though, he saw the mirror was full of steam. He wouldn’t usually care about it, since he always took hot showers, but what was on the steamed mirror caught his attention.

 

Written with the condensation on the mirror were three short words that Bakugou felt like he’d spent a lifetime reading.

 

 

**HELP ME! - KIRI**


	3. A Step Up

“Sero! Get in here, quick!” Bakugou yelled into the open bedroom.

 

“What is it?”

 

“It’s Kirishima!” Sero, alongside Kaminari and Todoroki, all left their bedroom with Bakugou, who shoved the bathroom door open- _wait, he didn’t close it._ In the bathroom was Midoriya, holding a towel up at the mirror.

 

“Ugh! What are you doing?”

 

“Uh, cleaning the mirror?”

 

“He wiped it off!” Bakugou threw his hands into the air. “Didn’t you see what was on it?!”

 

“...You mean the steam?” Midoriya asked. Bakugou growled in frustration, slamming a fist on the wall.

 

“What was on it?” Sero asked.

 

“It said ‘Help me! - Kiri!’ He wiped it off, and now I look like a fucking idiot!”

 

“Bakugou, take it easy…” Kaminari reached out to him, but he smacked his hand away.

 

“No! He wanted this to happen, I know it! I’m telling you, he has something to do with it!”

 

“I didn’t see anything in the mirror, I swear. It was all fogged up.”

 

“Ahem,” Aizawa cleared his throat from the end of the hallway. “Why are you not in your rooms? You know the rules.”

 

“I’m not fucking sharing with him.” Bakugou threw a pointing finger towards Midoriya, nearly hitting him in the face.

 

“You know what? I-I’ll move. It’s okay, I- uh, I can sleep on the couch or something, or-”

 

“Nobody is moving anywhere. Get to your _own_ rooms. _Now._ ” The group of boys scattered.

 

* * *

 

 _Shadows. Darkness._ **_Blackness_**.

 

_He couldn’t see a thing but black._

 

_“There’s a danger in that house.”_

 

_He felt cold. Freezing._

 

_“A terrible darkness. Evil.”_

 

_The darkness roared…_

 

_“Only you have the power...”_

 

_“Stop!”_

 

_...it twisted, and it turned…_

 

_“You must beware the black cat.”_

 

_“S-Stop it!”_

 

_...it grew larger and larger..._

 

_“Beware the black cat! You must beware the black cat!”_

 

 _“_ **_STOP IT!_ ** _”_

 

_...and consumed him._

 

* * *

 

“Stop it!” Midoriya woke with a start, gasping for breath.

 

“ _Meeeooow, Meeeooow! Bewaaare the blaaack caaats!”_ Bakugou’s mocking voice came from the foot of his bed. The blond was holding a wad of a faux fur blanket, using the same hand to scratch at the other boy’s ankle. He must’ve been trying to imitate the feeling of a cat.

 

“W-What are you doing?” Midoriya asked.

 

“Nothing. You woke _me_ up first, dumbass.” Bakugou threw the blanket onto the floor and stood back up. “ _Bewaaare the black cats!_ ” he taunted again, laughing as he threw himself onto his own bed. Midoriya whined in annoyance. “Awww, are you scared? What, you gonna sleep with the lights on, Deku?”

 

“Bakugou,” Iida groaned from underneath his covers. “Go back to sleep.”

 

“Fuck off, four eyes.”

 

“Language!” Iida had no further reaction, even after Bakugou threw a pillow at him.

 

“Doesn’t feel good having your head messed with, does it?” Bakugou turned his lamp off.

 

 _Not at all, Kacchan. Not that he could_ **_possibly_ ** _know_ **_anything_ ** _about that, though._

 

Bakugou was snoring in minutes. Midoriya didn’t go back to sleep.

 

* * *

 

The next morning, it was Kaminari’s turn to be forced awake by Bakugou. However, rather than using the same subtle and creative methods, Bakugou utilized the old and reliable brute force of a repeated pillow to the face.

 

“Ow! Hey! Stop it Bakugou! That hurts!”

 

“Gimme the fuckin’ truth. Did you sneak into the bathroom last night while I was showering and. Write. On. The. Mirror?” Bakugou continued his cushiony assault as he interrogated the resident maker of mischief. The whole while, Sero stood dressing himself for school. He didn’t dare try to put his way between Bakugou and anything. _Sorry, man._

 

“Ow- no, no I didn’t!”

 

“You swear?”

 

“Yes, I- Ow! I swear! Swear on Bolt’s life!”

 

Bakugou stopped his pillow in confusion. “Who?”

 

“Bolt. My dog. Swear on his life I didn’t do it!” Bakugou threw the pillow down onto the bed.

 

“Bakugou, maybe you just need to accept the inevitable,” Sero piped in.

 

“The fuck’s that?”

 

Sero wiggled his fingers, as if he was telling a ghost story. “Something sinister happened to Kirishima, and now he’s trying to contact you from the beyond!” he teased, before breaking into laughter with Kaminari.

 

“ _Oooooh-WEEE-oooooh!_ ” Kaminari exclaimed. Bakugou picked the pillow back up, shoving it down onto his face one more time before storming out of the bedroom.

 

“I didn’t know you had a dog,” Sero said.

 

“I don’t.” Kaminari rolled over and looked at Sero, grinning widely. “I’m allergic.” Sero’s eyes widened at the realization, and the two busted out laughing again.

 

“Dude, that’s messed up. Bakugou’s gonna kick your ass.” Sero finished tying his tie, and tossed Kaminari his blazer.

 

“Maybe. But he’ll calm down about it eventually.” The two stared at each other, and then cackled again. _Yeah, as if._

 

“Seriously though. Aizawa said that Kirishima just went home. You know Bakugou, he’s just being stubborn about it.”

 

“Yeah… still funny watching him chase his tail, though.” Kaminari kept giggling. Sero sighed. _Damn, this boy was a troublemaker. But he was just fucking adorable when he laughed._

 

Kaminari suddenly stopped. “Oh! Todoroki’s not listening, is he?” he whispered.

 

“Nope,” Todoroki said, eyes closed and still buried in his blankets.

 

* * *

 

**COOKING:   Ashido     Bakugou   Uraraka**

**CLEANING:  Sero         Tsuyu       Kaminari**

**LAUNDRY:   Midoriya   Iida          Todoroki**

 

Downstairs, breakfast was in full swing. Those whose turn was to cook were dishing out- well, dishes, plentifully. Soon enough, all nine students were awake and gathered.

 

“Sleep well, Deku? _Mrroooww,_ ” Bakugou taunted as he slid plates to Sero and Kaminari, who laughed with him.

 

“He’s been going on about that with Mina all morning,” Uraraka said, giving Todoroki and Midoriya their own. “Just ignore him.”

 

“Yeah, I am.” Midoriya sat down on the farther end from the three, with Todoroki.

 

“So what was this dream, anyway?” Todoroki asked. “We could hear you sleep talking next door too.”

 

Midoriya stirred at his food. “It was… awful, and really scary. I know they’re just joking, but… it felt so real. Like it was… evil.”

 

“It _was_ rather concerning, If I may say.” Iida joined the two. “I’m sorry I didn’t say more then. Will you be alright?”

 

“Yeah,” Midoriya nodded. “Thank you.” Bakugou had horked down his food in less than two minutes, and then walked out with his backpack offering no words. Sero and Kaminari slid over to join the other boys in conversation.

 

“Hey, Midoriya,” Sero said. “I wanted to say again, sorry about yesterday. Wasn’t very tactful of me.”

 

“It’s okay, really. It’s not your fault that you didn’t know.”

 

“Yeah, but, I just wanted to make it up to you- and Kaminari had an idea.”

 

“Uh oh,” Todoroki side-commented.

 

“Hey, hey, hear me out!” Kaminari scooted in. “We just thought we should welcome you into the school properly- the traditional way.”

 

“Kaminari, what are you going on about?” Iida questioned.

 

Kaminari smirked. “I’m talking about the initiation ceremony.”

 

“The what?” Todoroki, Midoriya, and Iida all spoke at the same time, but each with different tone to their voices.

 

Iida cleared his throat. “Since when did we ever have any kind of in-”

 

“Since _forever,_ Iida, _duh.”_ Kaminari stuck his tongue out.

 

Todoroki glared. “Kaminari, what are you trying to-”

 

“Hey, it’s okay you guys,” Midoriya said. “It sounds like fun. What do I need to do?” Before Kaminari could continue, Sero tugged on Kaminari’s shirt, putting a finger to his lips and then pointing the same finger at Aizawa, who was passing through the living area nearby.

 

“We’ll give you the deets later,” Sero whispered, winking to the group. Iida and Todoroki exchanged looks as they all returned to their food.

 

* * *

 

“Kirishima definitely would’ve called me by now. I can’t call him either, it _was_ going to his voicemail, but now it’s saying it’s an ‘unobtainable signal.’ I’m telling you, something’s not fuckin’ right.” Bakugou slammed his locker shut.

 

“You get a response from that email you sent him?” Ashido asked. She stood in front of her own open locker, looking in the small mirror as she finished an application of lip balm.

 

“No.” He trudged off down the hallway, Ashido at his side a moment later. The two were also joined by Kaminari and Sero, who had just visited their own lockers. “Like I keep fucking saying, we gotta question Deku.”

 

“Bakugou,” Sero said, “I _really_ don’t think Midoriya has anything to do with Kirishima going home. He just has bad timing.”

 

“What about last night? That bullshit with the mirror?” Bakugou said. Kaminari coughed, taking a swig of his water bottle. “You all believe me, right? I know what I saw.”

 

“You gonna blame him for that, too?” Ashido complained.

 

“But what if he did? What if- What if he wrote it, and then went to wipe it off after I saw it? Just to make me look crazy?”

 

“Bakugou, look.” She flicked him on the neck. “We _know_ you miss Kirishima, we _get it._ It’s all you’ve been talking about- but it’s only been one day. If he had to go that fast, there’s probably a reason, and probably why he didn't tell you right away. You just gotta be patient.”

 

“And I doubt some kid you barely know is gonna try to go after you like that for no reason,” Sero added. Bakugou stopped in his tracks for a second, and then scoffed before walking again.

 

“You all go ahead, I’ll be there in a bit.” Bakugou quickened his pace, not bothering to wait for his friends’ input. After nudging his way through the hallway traffic, his destination made itself clear with the bright plaque emblazoned on the door:

 

**Mr. Nezu**

 

**Principal’s office**

 

Bakugou rapped on the door, before letting himself in. _Eugh. The room reeked of animal, as always._

 

“Yes, Mr. Bakugou?” Mr. Nezu greeted, not looking up from his papers.

 

“Tell me what happened to Kirishima.” Bakugou’s bad attitude didn’t discriminate authority figures, but at least Nezu was far more patient than Aizawa was.

 

“Nothing’s ‘happened’ to Kirishima. His parents simply chose to withdraw him from the school.”

 

“Yeah, that’s what you _say_ . When you came into our classroom yesterday, you said ‘there's someone here to see you.’ Why wouldn’t you say ‘ _your parents_ are here to see you,’ instead?”

 

Nezu finally looked up. “What?”

 

Bakugou planted both his hands on the desk. “Unless it _wasn’t_ his parents.”

 

“Now you’re just being silly. Kirishima has gone home, that’s all.”

 

“Then why would he leave his phone behind? Why hasn’t he called me? _Why_ wouldn’t his parents tell him he-”

 

“Bakugou,” Nezu said. “Calm down.”

 

“Don’t tell me to calm down!” he felt eyes sting.

 

Nezu put a palm to the boy. “ _Tempus fugit,_ Mr. Bakugou. ‘Time flies.’ and just as time flies, I’m sure Kirishima will get in touch on his _own_ time. And if he doesn’t, then perhaps that means... he just doesn’t want to.”

 

_And to think he fucking wanted him to calm down._

 

Bakugou’s hand moved before he could see it. The coffee mug on Nezu’s desk went flying, shattering into pieces on the ground. Not bothering to stay for a reaction, he turned on his heel and stomped out, slamming the door behind him.

 

_Why would he say that? Why would he even think that? Is that really what he thinks?_

 

_Was that why he left?_

 

 _...did_ Kirishima _think that?_

 

 _Urgh._ Bakugou pinched the bridge of his nose. _He needed to get a fucking grip._

 

He wasn't surprised to find his three earlier companions waiting outside the room anyway. “What’s up with you and Nuzzle?” Ashido asked.

 

“Nothing.” Bakugou stormed off, his friends still at arms length- but their voices tuned out. He kept his gaze fixed on the floor as he walked, not noticing he was about to walk into a wall until he did. He pulled away, rubbing his bumped forehead, to see specifically what he’d hit- the framed photo of last year’s student body. U.A., being both rural and very exclusive, had a small student population, which made all the faces in the photo distinctive. What was most distinctive to him, though, was the lack thereof one face.

 

“Hey, you guys, look at this,” he pointed.

 

“I know, bad hair day. Don’t rub it in.” She flipped a handful of her pink curls.

 

“Forget your hair, Pinky, where’s Kirishima?”

 

“This again, dude?” Kaminari groaned.

 

“Seriously, look.” Bakugou poked at the picture. “He’s not in the class photo. He was standing right next to me!”

 

“I thought he was sick that day? Wasn’t there some bug going around the school then?” Sero scratched his chin.

 

“No, that was the day after. I know he was in this photo.”

 

“How can you be so sure, though? That thing’s like, over a year old.” Sero patted him on the back, finally walking away from him with the rest of the group when the warning bell rang. Bakugou stood completely still.

 

“He was there that day. I know he was...”

 

* * *

 

Midoriya’s social reputation at U.A. may have started off rocky, but that wasn’t exactly new to him. Thankfully, the school aspect itself was somewhat better. Because it was still close to the start of the semester, he was easily brought up to speed in all his classes, many of which he shared with some- if not all- of his housemates. If there was one thing that didn’t change with the setting, it was his habit of sitting at the very front of the room. Sure, Bakugou in particular used to tease him a lot about it, accusing him of trying to be a teacher’s pet just by sitting upfront, but the reality was that it just helped him focus. Right then, though, his focus was entirely elsewhere.

 

He still couldn’t quite process the events of the last twelve hours. Between what happened at Toshinori’s room, his nightmare, and Kacchan’s characteristic but still unusual behavior, he was emotionally spent. There was also that necklace Toshinori had given him, what did _that_ mean? _What did he mean, it would ‘protect him?’_

 

“That’s nice.” Todoroki took the other chair next to him at the double desk. “Does it have a photo inside?”

 

“Uh- no!” Hastily, Midoriya shoved the chain inside his shirt. He hadn’t taken it off all night, meaning it must’ve been out in the open most of the day. _That was another thing, though. Why did he have to keep it hidden? Who was ‘they’ that would take it away?_

 

“Er- Sorry,” Todoroki said. “Just making conversation.”

 

Midoriya fumbled for a moment. “N-No, _I’m_ sorry. That was rude of me.”

 

“No problem, honest.” Todoroki settled into the seat. “Uh, hey, you’re not actually going through with that initiation stuff, are you? You know you don’t have to, right?”

 

“Yeah, I do, but-”  As students began filing into the classroom, Kaminari and Sero plopped down into the seats behind them. Midoriya tilted his head in their direction. “They’re not gonna let me live it down if they think I’m scared. Besides, it’s all in good fun, right?”

 

Todoroki chuckled. “You really are tougher than you look.”

 

Midoriya shrugged. “Just trying to survive, I guess.”

 

“Speaking of _survival,_ ” Kaminari broke his eavesdrop to add himself and Sero into the conversation. “Here’s the gist- midnight, tonight.”

 

“That late, huh?”

 

"Yep," Sero said. "Basically, you just gotta sneak up into the attic and take something back to prove you went."

 

Ashido gasped, flinging herself over from the nearby desk. “No way! The spooky and totally haunted attic!?”

 

“Ghosts, Mina? What ever happened to aliens?” Tsuyu perked.

 

“I thought you were initiating him, not sending him to his doom!” Ashido threw her arms wide open to emphasize her exaggeration.

 

“It can’t really be that bad, can it?” It was Uraraka’s turn to give her thoughts. “The house is already spooky enough, ghosts or not.”

 

“Oh, it is.” Kaminari hunched over, smiling devilishly. “The ghosts of former students who went up there, never to return!” He burst into laughter. Midoriya felt uneasy. _The attic couldn’t seriously be haunted, could it?_ He mulled over his thoughts, until-

 

“You’re not getting cold feet are you?” Sero clapped him on the back.

 

Midoriya took a deep breath. “Not at all… No. It sounds adventurous. Let’s go tonight!”

 

“Ah, ah, ah,” Sero continued. “Before the main event, there’s always an opening act.”

 

Todoroki sighed audibly. “I can’t wait to hear this.”

 

“The key,” Kaminari finished for him. “He can’t go up into the attic without the key. You’ll have to steal it from Aizawa.”

 

“Yep, there it is.” Todoroki facepalmed.

 

“H-How am I gonna do that?”

 

“We’ll do it this afternoon,” Sero said. “After class- and uh, don’t let Iida know, either. He’ll probably kick our asses.” The whole group looked over to see Iida arguing with a student nearby about running in the halls, proving their point. Iida always meant well, but had a tendency to be stuck up in a lot of people’s eyes. Iida’s voice was then soon drowned out by the other known argumentative classmate of theirs, who came into the room riding on the principal’s tail as the bell rang.

 

“Are you even listening to me?” he growled. “Why was Kirishima erased from the school photo!?”

 

“That's a ridiculous notion, Bakugou. Take your seat, I’ve had enough of this discussion.” Bakugou threw open the chair next to Iida and sat down, but continued arguing.

 

“You’re _not_ listening! I know what I saw!”

 

“Uh oh,” Kaminari gasped. “Crazy conspiracy alert!”

 

“I said that’s enough- The rest of you, as well. _Tacere auream_ , class. 'Silence is golden.' ” Nezu cleared his throat. “Now, then. Hizashi? Care to introduce yourself?”

 

“All the world's a stage!” A voice from the back of the room announced. In the very back seat, away from the rest of the students, a man closed the book his face had been buried in, and ran a hand through his long blond hair. “And the men and women are the players.” He stood up, and made his way to the front of the room. “My name, is Hizashi Yamada. Starting today, I’m your new language arts teacher. I’ll also be teaching Drama.” He took a light bow, and gave a nod to Nezu. Around the room, some casual greetings and welcomings were said. As Mr. Yamada began the lesson, drawing away the student’s attention, they failed to notice as Ms. Kayama came to the door to usher Nezu. The two broke off into the hallway.

 

“I just got off the phone,” She said as she waved her device. “Everything’s been arranged, and he’s been taken care of.”

 

“I’ll notify Aizawa. Are you sure his tracks are covered, though? I honestly don’t believe it was handled very well.”

 

“Oh nonsense. The kids have forgotten him already, you know what they’re like.”

 

“I hope you’re right, Nemuri.” He held his office door open for her as he spoke. “It’s just that… Kirishima was such a popular boy- especially with Bakugou, the two were thick as thieves. And… he’s noticed the photograph.”

 

Kayama tilted her head. “Ah...”

 

* * *

 

Later that afternoon, Midoriya was dragged upstairs as soon as everyone had returned to the house. “Better now than never,” Sero claimed. Ashido had tagged along as well, eager to see the act. Across the balcony, Aizawa was attending paperwork in his office, calm as ever but visibly alert.

 

“Alright,” Kaminari whispered, huddling the four of them together. “See those keys?” he pointed to the iron ring of slightly rusted keys on his desk. “Those are the master keys. Aizawa carries them everywhere with him, all the time- so you’ll never get ‘em.”

 

“Not very reassuring,” Midoriya commented.

 

“But- there’s a but-” Sero nudged in, “Over there on his office wall is a box, with a spare key for every room in the house.”

 

“So I just have to grab the attic key, then? Alright.”

 

“What are you lot looking at?” Their vain attempt at discretion attracted Aizawa’s unwanted attention, as he stood up from his desk to go scold the group. Immediately, Kaminari dived to the floor.

 

“Uh- Yes! It’s, uh, just as I thought. This floor, it- it could use a mop.”

 

Aizawa stepped over to him. “Hm... Yes.” Grabbing him by the arm, he stood the boy up. “Thank you for volunteering, Kaminari. Please, feel free to mop it.” He led him downstairs to get the supplies, much to his silent protest. The remaining three exchanged confused looks between them, themselves, and… the empty office. Midoriya saw his chance, and moved. He grabbed the ring of keys still laying on the desk and went straight for the box, scrambling to unlock it.

 

“He’s actually going for it!” Ashido gasped. Sero’s jaw dropped.

 

He really _did_ have every key. _Front door, bathrooms, bedrooms, cellar, even one for the first aid box..._

 

 _...there! The attic key._ As he took the key from its hook, footsteps came from the stairs. He ran out, holding the key in triumph, but Sero and Ashido pointed frantically to his other hand. He was still holding the key ring. _Shit_. He ran back in the drop off the ring, stumbling in his step and falling to the ground, taking several things from the desktop with him. Several papers scattered around him, but he was surprised to see what he had caught- He was stared down by the lifeless eyes of the stuffed black cat that Aizawa cared so much for.

 

….wait, the _what_ cat?

 

“Izuku Midoriya,” the voice he heard stepped ever so slowly over to him. “What are you doing?” Up until now, Aizawa had always presented emotionless- but his first expression to Midoriya was that of impeccable anger. “This had better be good.” Now it was his turn to stare him down.

 

“I…” He sat up. “I was, uh... getting a closer look at Furvus. I’ve uh, always liked cats, a-and-”

 

“Get out!” Aizawa bellowed, and Midoriya hurried back out of the office. “Don’t ever let me find you in here again.” He slammed and locked the door. The feeling of negativity sank into his audience, only to be completely overturned when Midoriya presented the attic key.

 

“You got _so_ lucky,” Sero managed to say through his astonishment.

 

“Yeah, well, we’ll see how lucky he is tonight.” Ashido waved her hand for them to follow. “Now come on, it’s almost dinnertime.”

 

* * *

 

Midoriya was woken up that night with a flashlight to his face. Kaminari seemed to have a flair for the dramatic.

 

“Are you Izuku Midoriya?” He said, turning the light to his own face. Behind him, Sero and Bakugou were doing the same, with less brighter lights.

 

“Y-Yes? I am.”

 

“Is there anyone here who can confirm this?”

 

“Uh, me?”

 

Bakugou groaned. “This is fucking stupid.” Kaminari shushed him, and took a step closer.

 

“Izuku Midoriya. Tonight you will prove your claim that you are brave enough to live here at Anubis House.” He turned the light back to him. “Swear on all the graves of your ancestors, that you will _not_ tell another living soul about the events of tonight.”

 

“I… I promise.”

 

Kaminari nodded, and brought Midoriya from his room, quiet so as not to wake Iida. Sero and Bakugou continued behind him. The attic door was flanked by Ashido and Tsuyu on one side, and Todoroki and Uraraka on the other, all of them also holding flashlights. As they slowly made their way across the dark hall, the toll of the clock bell from downstairs chimed- twelve times, to be exact. Midnight had approached.

 

Kaminari spoke. “Oh, spirits of Anubis House, we ask that you guide the new boy on his initiation quest, and keep him from harm in the haunted attic.”

 

Todoroki clicked his light off. “Oh, come on, this is ridiculous.” Kaminari shushed again, louder for emphasis.

 

“Now… open the door.” Kaminari stepped back. Midoriya took the key from his pocket, and moved to the door. He could feel his heart beating faster.

 

“I just… have to go up there, and bring something back. Then I’m done.” he nodded. “You guys didn’t booby trap the place or anything, did you?”

 

“Of course not,” Sero piped. “You’re the only one with the key.” _Huh, touché._

 

The click of the key turning in the lock was the loudest sound ever to him, only making his heart race more. The door creaked open, revealing a small walkway and a flight of spiral stairs leading up. Midoriya only noticed when he stepped into the darker room that he was the only one without a light. Everything was already quieter, his heart threatened to burst from his chest, and-

 

_SLAM!_

 

_Click_

 

...it stopped altogether.

 

“Bakugou! What are you doing!?” Uraraka hissed.

 

“What’s it fuckin’ look like?” Bakugou wrestled the key from the lock.

 

“Hey, what’s going on? Open the door!” Midoriya knocked and frantically shook at the doorknob.

 

“Not till you tell us what you know about Kirishima’s disappearance.” Bakugou’s tone was as biting as ever.

 

“Nothing! I keep telling you, I know nothing!”

 

“Then you better get comfy, Deku. You’re not coming out till you say something.”

 

“Bakugou, you’ve had your fun, now open the door!” Todoroki reached for the key, but Bakugou swatted his hand away.

 

“Bakugou, this is too far!” Sero jabbed.

 

“Whose side are you on, dammit?” Bakugou gripped the key until his knuckles whitened.

 

“You’re not really gonna leave him in there, are you?” Tsuyu pleaded.

 

Midoriya’s knocking got louder. “Please, let me out!”

 

“Stop banging!” Bakugou spat through clenched teeth.

 

“T-There’s something up there! Let me out!”

 

“Shut up, dammit, before-”

 

“What is all this noise?” The room dropped several degrees at the new voice. Aizawa clicked on the lightswitch. “Why are you all out of bed?” The kids huddled around the door parted as he stomped up to the door. “Were you trying to break this door open?”

 

Bakugou stuffed the key into his back pocket. “No, we just thought we heard mice. That’s all.”

 

Aizawa looked around at everyone else’s stunned, speechless faces. “Get. to. Bed. _Now._ Before I put you all in detention.” Everyone else dispersed immediately, but Bakugou and Todoroki both stuck around for a second longer, eyes wide. “I said _now_.” The two backed off to their rooms as well.

 

Aizawa produced his own keys from his pocket, and opened the door. The attic hallway was as dusty, quiet, and empty as ever, not a peep to be heard.

 

_thump_

 

 _...except for that_. Aizawa squinted, and he swore he could see a shadow move faintly along the moonlit wall. He closed the door behind him, and slowly started up the stairs.


	4. Hollow

Midoriya ran. He didn’t stop to look, to think, or even to breathe, he just _ran_.

 

His eyes hadn’t adjusted to the substantial darkness of the attic, and he found himself constantly tripping over clutter amidst the floor that he couldn’t even see.

 

“Who’s up there?” Aizawa’s voice was getting closer. _Oh no._ Midoriya just kept on running until he slammed into a wall, and the whole room started to spin- literally. What little moonlight he had to light his way disappeared.

 

Soon enough, Aizawa himself had entered the attic, flashlight lit. His footsteps slowed, but got louder. Midoriya couldn’t see a thing, but he could hear his steps until they stopped.

 

“Eugh, rodents,” He heard him say, followed by two thumps- the first distant, the other louder and sudden on the wall behind him. _Wait, how did that wall...?_

 

The sound of Aizawa’s steps continued around for some time, accompanied by the rustling of various attic junk. It slowly grew quieter, soon turned silent, and was punctuated by the distant sound of a door closing.

 

Midoriya counted to ten. Then to twenty. Then to two-hundred, and he finally opened his eyes that he hadn’t realized he’d been squeezing shut. Not that it made any difference in the pitch black, though- but soon enough, his eyes adjusted to the darkness with a sliver of light through a crack in the wall he’d been leaning against. Somehow, he had tripped into a smaller room in the attic- a closet, maybe? He stood up, bracing himself along the cold stone wall. The space was cramped, barely as wide as he was tall. The wall was entirely plain, except for one small embossed shape he could just slightly make out. It was round, a thin outline of a circle with an even smaller, more concave shape inside it- An oval, it felt like. He traced his finger around it, hoping he could see it better by feeling it, but jumped when he saw it begin to… glow?

 

It was glowing bright green, a small ray of light shining right across his chest, moving with him. Inside his shirt, it seemed to glow the brightest.

 

 _The necklace?_ Midoriya pulled the chain out from underneath his shirt. Sure enough, the eye pendant he’d been wearing was gleaming in sync with the wall- and the illuminated hole in the wall… seemed to match up perfectly with it. Steadily, he joined the two together, and stumbled forward as the wall turned and shoved him out. The scraping sound of the wall across the floor ceased, and he found himself back in the attic proper.

 

The room appeared much clearer and brighter than before, and the curtains draped along a nearby stained glass window were drawn. He palmed at the wall behind him, now completely stationary and rigid. On it, he saw the same circle-and-oval shape he had seen inside- also glowing green like before, but fainter. He noticed it was about at height with his chest- if this thing was a lock, and Toshinori’s necklace was it’s key, he deduced that he must have accidentally opened it the first time when he crashed into the wall. _But, what would there be a secret panel in here for?_

 

Heart racing, he clicked the eye into the socket again. As the door opened, again, he craned his head in to look around- only to let out a yelp when he found a pair of large eyes stare him back, the wall pushing him away a second later. He stumbled backwards, hearing a sickening crunch under the heel of his slipper when he regained his balance. Remembering Aizawa’s earlier remark, he didn’t dare look down- but couldn’t help gagging.

 

He’d had enough excitement for the night. Tiptoeing to leave (and not leave a mess of tracks), Midoriya was halfway to the steps before remembering his task. Almost everything he saw around him was either too big, dirty, fragile, or old to carry back with him. He felt around- boxes, cabinets, dressers… there! A jewelry box mounted on an ornate-looking chiffonier caught his eye.

 

* * *

 

After leaving the attic, Aizawa had leaned into both upstairs bedrooms to confirm he had been obeyed. He hadn’t noticed Midoriya’s absence, nor the copious amount of pillows stuffed in his sheets- he only wanted to see and hear nothing from either room, before retiring to his own. The silence of the hallway was short lived when Bakugou and Todoroki slipped out of their rooms.

 

“He hasn’t got him,” Todoroki whispered. Bakugou shook his head no in agreement. “Alright, give me the key.”

 

Bakugou hesitated. “I don’t have it.”

 

“Liar! I saw you put it in your pocket.”

 

“I panicked when he checked our rooms, okay? I… threw it out the window.” He pulled the insides of his empty sweatpants pockets out, confirming his claim. Todoroki let an irritated sigh, and tiptoed down the corridor to the attic, while Bakugou stayed put.

 

“Is he gone?” a new, softer voice made the two boys jump. Uraraka leaned over from around the corner of the bathroom. Todoroki nodded, and put a finger to his lips. Uraraka nodded in reply, and joined his side at the door.

 

“Midoriya?” they whispered. She tapped her fingernail on the door, calling his name a little louder. He grabbed for the knob, slowly shaking at it, until it suddenly jerked to the side. The next thing he knew, Midoriya had fell forward into his arms.

 

“Midoriya!” he stood him up. “A-Are you alright? You look like you really did see a ghost.” In the background, Bakugou scoffed and closed the door.

 

Uraraka stuttered. “How- How did you…?” Midoriya held up a bent hairpin to answer her question.

 

“No ghosts,” he said. “Just dust, and some spiders, and-” he kicked off his slipper and held it behind him. “...possibly a rat.”

 

“You’re so brave.” Uraraka sighed in relief, holding a hand over her heart. “Well, uh, I should probably get going. See you in the morning.” She waved them farewell, tiptoeing back to the stairs.

 

Todoroki breathed out too. “You did good.” he smiled.

 

“Yeah… thanks.” Midoriya blushed. “Don’t tell anyone, though, my hands were shaking a lot. Took me several tries to get the lock picked.”

 

Todoroki chuckled. “Your secret’s safe with me. You should probably get to bed yourself, though.” He patted him on the shoulder, and turned back toward his bedroom. “‘Night.”

 

“Goodnight,” Midoriya replied. Once he was gone, he leaned himself back on the wall, his free hand moving over his own rushing heart. Rather, though, he felt the cool metal of the necklace in his palm, as it lay freely across his chest.

 

_“Keep it well hidden. Or they’ll take it from you.”_

 

_“There’s treasure in that house.”_

 

_“You must beware the black cat.”_

 

It was his head’s turn to pound relentlessly. It had been an excruciating evening, and he believed that he deserved to rest now- still, he wasn’t surprised that he didn’t get any.

 

* * *

 

**COOKING:   Midoriya   Kaminari  Todoroki**

**CLEANING:  Uraraka     Iida          Tsuyu**

**LAUNDRY:   Bakugou   Ashido     Sero**

 

Naturally, he overslept and missed most of his morning routine. Midoriya dragged himself to breakfast, to be greeted with light but affirmed applause from his peers.

 

“Again, dude, you are _too_ lucky.” Sero clapped him on the back.

 

“We thought for _sure_ you got, like, eaten by zombies or something!” Ashido cried.

 

“Can’t you pick one and stick with it, Mina?” Tsuyu said.

 

“Was it really scary up there?” Kaminari nudged in. “Spill, tell us everything!”

 

“N-No way, I wasn’t scared! _He lied like a dog._ “It was, uh, just real dark. No zombies, thankfully- just dust bunnies.” Midoriya stopped to laugh with the others. “I thought it’d be a lot worse. It was actually kinda cool, seeing all those old antiques and stuff. I might have to move up there.”

 

“Uhm…” Iida finally vocalized his visible confusion. “Up _where_ , exactly?” Everyone stopped, and Kaminari tried to take a sip of his juice without laughing. Ultimately, he failed, sending everyone else spiraling into laughter as well. All except for the obvious, that is.

 

“Psh, bullshit.” Bakugou leaned back his chair. “Wasn’t he fuckin’ whining at the door as soon as I closed it? ‘Oh, please, let me ooouuuttt!’” He mocked.

 

“Hey, lay off, man.” Ashido elbowed him, but he ignored her and continued.

 

“I bet he was too much of a pussy to bring something back, wasn’t he?” He accused, leaning in to the boy’s freckled face.

 

“Well, actually, I did.” Midoriya reached into his pocket. “I found this big old jewelry box up there, and…” he pulled out a necklace, different from his own hidden one- a pendant of a large, round, red gemstone covered in gold trims. Expressions of awe came from around the table.

 

Bakugou’s eyes widened in disbelief, and he snatched the red stone in his anger. “Give me that,” he growled. He didn’t want to believe his eyes, but the thing did look genuine. _And pretty fuckin’ old, too._

 

Kaminari giggled. “He proved you wrong.” Bakugou scoffed, throwing the antiquated necklace over his shoulder, before grabbing his backpack and storming off. Although in calmer fashion, the rest of the students began soon to follow suit- classes were to start before long.

 

* * *

 

On their ways out, Midoriya went ahead of the others, walking out the door on his own until Todoroki ran and caught up with him.

 

“Hey, Midoriya,” he said. “I just wanted to ask if, uh-” he caught his breath. “If uh- do you mind if I walked over with you?”

 

“Sure, of course.” Midoriya smiled bright, slowing his pace to keep with him. As the two were rounding the side of the house, Todoroki gasped, and dove into ground, crawling up to the bushes along the wall.

 

“Uh, did you change your mind?” Midoriya asked, genuinely confused.

 

“No! No, uh, wait, I’m just looking for something. Hang on,” Todoroki said.

 

“Kay, hangin’...” Midoriya rubbed the back of his neck.

 

Nearby, he heard a voice call; “Tag, you’re it!” a moment later, Sero sped by, laughing, with Kaminari at his tail. Todoroki backed out of the bush not long after they passed.

 

“Here it is.” Todoroki brushed the dirt off the attic key after pulling it from the brambles. Consequently, he had also pulled several leaves out into his clothes and hair.

 

Midoriya giggled. “You’ve got a little, uh…” He reached out to brush a leaf out of his red streak, running his fingers along his forehead, stopping along the red scarring along his eye. Midoriya had noticed it before, of course, but didn’t want to ask about it- at the risk of coming off rudely. Come to think of it, he probably shouldn’t be outright touching it. Still, he found himself lost in Todoroki’s dual-colored eyes, unable to move until his own laughter brought him back to reality. “Unless you wanted that there,” he joked, letting the leaf flutter to the ground.

 

Todoroki chuckled with him. “Don’t worry, I don’t think I’ll miss it.” He spun the round handle of the key around his finger. “Speaking of missing things, I think Aizawa’s gonna need this back before he does.”

 

“Actually-” Midoriya snatched the key from him. “- _I’m_ gonna need this for later, when I go back up there.”

 

Todoroki’s smile dropped, replaced by genuine astonishment. “You’re gonna go back up into the attic? And risk getting caught again?”

 

Midoriya shrugged. “Yeah, it sounded a little less crazy in my head. But… when I was up there last night, I...” he felt his own hand touch at the light lump on his shirt. “It was the first time since I got here that I wasn’t missing home, or worrying about Kacchan, or trying to get people to like me…” he trailed off. “And… I really need to know.”

 

“Know what?” Todoroki’s voice sounded worried.

 

“If I, uh… saw someone up there.” Midoriya could feel Todoroki’s confusion like an overbearing weight. “Okay, I know it sounds crazy, but… I swear I saw something- someone? Up in the attic, I-I-”

 

Todoroki put a hand on his shoulder. “Did something… happen up there, Midoriya?”

 

Midoriya stiffened at the sudden touch, and he cleared his throat to speak. “Well…”

 

* * *

 

Bakugou had seen the stereotype several times- in movies, in TV, and what have you. The gag in which a male character would discover a secret hole in the boys’ locker room to peep into the girls’ side in pursuit of perverted satisfaction. He always thought it was stupid, not to mention gross and degrading, and it weirded him out at first to find a real one in one of the boys’ restrooms at the school. What he didn’t notice first, though, was that the girls restrooms weren’t even on the opposite wall- they were across the hallway. Through this hole happened to be none other than Nezu’s office. Whoever made the choice to dig that hole, he thought, _deserved the Nobel fucking Prize._ Treading with an unusual amount of care, Bakugou peeled the loose tile away from the wall with his bare hands and spied through on the in-progress staff meeting, where Ms. Kayama held the floor in the discussion.

 

“He’s just frustrated, like always. He’ll calm down eventually,” She said.

 

“I should hope so,” Nezu said. “But I still think this could have been avoided if we hadn’t been so unnecessarily hasty.”

 

She pushed up her glasses. “Aizawa said caution was our best option, and for once I think I should agree with him.”

 

“I’m telling you, Bakugou will not let this go. He’s determined to find out where Kirishima is.”

 

“Then we must be equally determined to be sure that he never does, Nezu!” She exclaimed. “There’s too much at stake. For now, we just need to deny everything. In time, he’ll give up.”

 

If it hadn’t been for the need to keep the hole hidden, Bakugou might’ve shattered the tile right there in his hand.

 

“Uh, dude?” Bakugou stiffened upon hearing Sero’s voice. Hastily, he shoved the tile back in its place, and didn’t miss a beat when the grabbed him by the shoulders.

 

“Sero, you gotta believe me.” He spoke at the tone of a whisper, but with force from gritted teeth. “It’s been two days, and nobody’s heard a word from him. Something bad’s happened to Kirishima, and those asshole teachers are involved.” When Sero sighed, Bakugou took it as a sign of disregard, and dragged the boy out into the hallway. “I’m serious! I need to get his fucking home phone number.”

 

“Bakugou, you’re acting ridiculous.”

 

“Shut up! I need to talk to his fucking parents. They might not know about this, and they damn well deserve to!” as Bakugou stewed in his anger, the staff in Nezu’s office began to leave one by one, Nezu himself the last out and closing his office door behind him. Bakugou grabbed his arm again. “Listen. You be my lookout, distract the rat while I go look for Kirishima’s file.”

 

“W-What?” Bakugou gave Sero a shove of not-so-much-encouragement, landing him directly in Nezu’s path.

 

“Ahem, excuse me, Sero.”

 

“Ah! Uh, M-Mr. Nezu! Hey!” Sero watched as Bakugou sneaked his way behind him- aggressive as ever in fashion, but surprisingly nonchalant.

 

“Is there something you need, Mr. Sero?”

 

“I-I, uh-” Bakugou had slipped past the door, starting his timer. “I wanted to talk to you about some… things… that I’ve been thinking… in my mind?” Truthfully, the only thing Sero could think of was to mentally slap himself.

 

Bakugou knew the office like the back of his hand- it wasn’t a surprise to people that knew him that he was called into the room often. He made a beeline to the file cabinet, forced it open, and fished through the sea of manila envelopes.

 

 _I… J… K. Ka… Ke… Ki! Kirishima, E. He’d found it._ There on the very front page- his full name, some credentials, student identification, and… his school photograph. A cropping of his face from the very same photo in the hallway that he’d been erased from. It was the first time in two days that Bakugou had seen his face. _His handsome fucking face. His bright eyes, his smile..._

 

... _Ahem_ . Listed on another page, was his parental contact. _Score._ He stuffed the file into his bag, and slid out the door, where Sero and Nezu were still engaged in what was clearly an intellectually stimulating conversation.

 

“I’m just saying, electrical tape is _totally_ better than scotch tape, am I right?” Sero said, flailing his hands. “Scotch tape is all plain, and clear, and _boring_ , and- and electrical tape is black, so it matches everything!”

 

Bakugou spoke up. “Sero, what in the fuc-”

 

“OH, hey Bakugou, we should, uh, _really_ go right now or we’ll be late! Anyway I’ll definitely get back to you on that, Nez!” Sero dragged the blond away, laughing nervously until he dropped his facade in an instant. “You’re insane, dude.”

 

* * *

 

“So, this panel,” Todoroki said, sitting down with Midoriya in class. “It just opened when you fell against it- because of your locket, somehow?”

 

“Yeah…” He twisted the eye charm around in his fingers. “But, technically, it’s not a locket, I don’t think?”

 

“Are you sure?” Todoroki poked at it, pointing to… a hinge? Midoriya hadn’t noticed it before, but there was definitely a hinge on the side of the eye.

 

“Oh..?” Midoriya pushed his fingernail into the ridge along the opposite side, and sure enough- it clicked open.

 

“I knew there must’ve been a photo inside,” Todoroki said.

 

“Y-Yeah, I guess I was wrong.” The right half of the locket was blank, but on the left was a photograph that was clearly very dated- grainy sepia and everything. The picture depicted a young boy, with long and rather unruly hair despite his sophisticated dress. Midoriya squinted at the tiny picture. “I… think I’ve seen this person before. But I’m not sure where.”

 

“I guess that makes two boys of mystery,” Todoroki said. “You being the first.” he smiled. “And I have to say, I’m pretty interested to solve you both.” Midoriya blushed at the remark, turning his head away. “If you’re going back up into that attic, then I’m going with you.” He put a hand over the open locket, still in Midoriya’s palm. “You can trust me, you know. I promise.”

 

Midoriya couldn’t contain his smile, nor keep it from evolving into laughter. “Okay, okay.” He clicked the locket shut and put it away. “Before you do something over the top,” he said, looking him in the eyes. “I trust you too.”

 

* * *

 

Sero kicked a large pebble along the gravel path. “Why didn’t you just write the number down, or take a picture of it, or something?”

 

“I didn’t fuckin’ have the time, dumbass. No thanks to you and your weird-ass tape distraction,” Bakugou grunted, keeping his eyes on the ground.

 

“And what was that you were saying about the teachers?” He said as he kept kicking. “Are you _seriously_ trying to say, you think they kidnapped him or something?”

 

Bakugou’s foot caught the rock before Sero’s could again, sending it flying to their side and crumbling when it hit the low brick fence. “I… I don’t fuckin’ know. Everything’s just so fucked up right now, I…” He trailed off.

 

The two were behind all the other seven students on their after-class commute back to the house- and right in front of Bakugou was that irritating mop of green hair. The person it belonged to though- he may have hated him, like, a lot, but…

 

“Oi. Deku.” The boy stopped, turning to acknowledge the voice that called him. Everyone else ahead of them had stopped, too. Slowly, Bakugou stomped up to him, a look on his face that displayed not anger- but more like exhaustion. He took a deep breath, exhaling with a groan, before he spoke. “Sorry for being up your ass about Kirishima, alright? I know I was being a bitch, and… it was bullshit of me, or whatever.” He nudged his shoulder with his own, and continued on by himself, his eyes fixed forward despite everyone else’s still being on him.

 

“Uh, thanks, I guess?” was all Midoriya could say. Bakugou simply groaned again in response.

 

“Wow, first time for everything, huh?” Tsuyu quipped. Uraraka elbowed her arm, but still giggled a little herself. Before long, the group of nine had all reached Anubis House together. As they all piled through the tall double doors, they nearly ran over Aizawa as he stood in the middle of the foyer.

 

“Coats and bags. _Now,_ ” he commanded, holding out his hand.

 

“Hey, what gives?” Kaminari clutched at his backpack.

 

“I got a call from Nezu earlier today. Something valuable was stolen, and I was asked to instigate a search. Now give.” He waved his fingers. Reluctantly, Kaminari dropped the strap of his bag onto Aizawa’s hand. One by one, others followed too.

 

Todoroki hid his gasp, nudging Midoriya by the arm. “You don’t think he’s talking about the key, do you?” Midoriya shushed him with a finger on his lips, patting his back pocket as he gave Aizawa his own bag.

 

“What makes you think we took anything?” Bakugou sassed, pulling his own bag away.

 

“I just need to be certain,” Aizawa said. “Why, something to hide, Bakugou?” he leered over him.

 

“Wouldn’t you like to know?” He kept a grip on the strap, engaging in a tug war with Aizawa, who ultimately won.

 

“You can have them back later.” Aizawa dragged all nine bags upstairs, and Bakugou stomped away growling into the living room.

 

Midoriya sighed in relief, pulling the attic key from his pocket. “That was close.”

 

* * *

 

They made for the attic as soon as Aizawa locked himself away in his office. Even during the day, the attic was still dark and musty, encouraging the two boys to use their flashlights. The curtains over the stained window were closed again, and the rat from the night before was gone, confirming that Aizawa had since been up there.

 

“You ready?” Midoriya drew the locket from his shirt, and Todoroki nodded. Just as he’d hoped, the green light started again, and…

 

_Click_

 

The stone panel dragged itself along the floor, rotating open again. Midoriya moved quick, holding the door open, and dove into the opening. Both boys gasped, Todoroki dropping his flashlight. Just as he had seen the night before, two giant eyes stared at him from the dark side of the room, and Midoriya pointed his own light at them.

 

“It’s… a portrait?” Midoriya walked up to it to try to get a closer look, but even with his flashlight it was still hard to make out.

 

“Here, let, me just-” Todoroki gently lifted the frame off its hook, easing it back out into the relatively brighter attic. The frame was gigantic, taller than Midoriya was, and the picture… “It’s that boy!” Todoroki said. “From your locket.” Midoriya flipped the locket open, leaning it against the giant photograph. It was nearly a carbon copy, except for one detail in the larger.

 

“Hey, what are… these?” In the larger picture, beside the boys head, something was etched into the background; three apparent symbols in a faded color, stacked upon each other. The first seemed to be a semicircle, with one line through it and two more on its sides. The second was a zigzag diagonal along a backwards L shape, resembling a set of stairs. Below that one were eight tick marks, in two rows of four, and all three were enveloped in a sketched oval.

 

“It looks like Egyptian hieroglyphics.” Todoroki pulled out his phone, and snapped a picture of it.

 

“Egyptian..?”

 

“Yeah. The founders of the house were archaeologists, you know. I think the school says they were egyptologists, too.”

 

“Archaeologists...” Midoriya traced his finger over the glyph. “You know… that old man said there was treasure in this house.”

 

Todoroki raised an eyebrow. “Treasure?”

 

“Well, he- he wasn’t very specific. But he seemed to know something about this house.” Midoriya clicked the eye shut, looking to Todoroki’s own. “Maybe we should go talk to him?”


	5. Buried

To nobody’s surprise, Bakugou was angry.

 

“I can’t believe he just took our bags!” Bakugou slumped down onto the couch. “He knows, somehow he fucking knows.” 

 

Sero looked over his shoulder at Midoriya, who was already halfway up the stairs with Todoroki. “It’s probably just a coincidence, man. You’ve had a hell of a bad luck streak lately.” He sat down beside him. “You’re screwed if he finds that file, though.”

 

“If he confronts me, I’ll confront him back. You know I’m good at that.” He really couldn’t deny that. “You can think I’m fucking crazy all you want, but there’s some bullshit going on- and I’m gonna find out what it is.”

 

“You’re not gonna keep interrogating Midoriya, are you?”

 

Bakugou seethed. “Ugh, I don’t know. I know what I said back out there, but… even if he doesn’t know anything, he’s gotta be involved somehow.” he folded his arms. “I mean, him getting here as soon as Kiri left? And you know I mean  _ as soon. _ ”

 

“Yeah, I guess that was kinda weird...” Kaminari jumped over the couch to land on Bakugou’s other side. “Sero told Mina and I about your little adventure in Nuzzle’s office today.”

 

Bakugou growled and flicked Sero on the forehead. “You can’t just let that get out, dumbass.”

 

“Hey, he’s my friend too, dude,” Kaminari said. “I wanna know how he’s doing.”

 

“Don’t fucking treat it like he’s on vacation or some shit,” Bakugou hissed. He sat and twiddled his thumbs over his phone for a while- he mulled over Kirishima’s cell contact, and all thirty or so of the unread outgoing messages. He dozed off, spending his time by scrolling through all the older, received messages- all the various conversations he’s had with him, all the pictures of him he sent. He didn’t even bother to look up when Midoriya and Todoroki walked in, deep in their own conversation as they sat down on the opposite couch. Some moments after, Ashido also strolled into the living room.

 

“Hey, any sign of Aizawa and our bags?”

 

“Nope,” Kaminari replied. “But if it means we don’t gotta do that homework-” As if on cue, Aizawa trudged down the nearby stairs and dropped all nine bags to the ground, turning on his heel in an instant to return upstairs. “-Oh.”

 

“D-Did you find what you were looking for?” Midoriya asked.

 

“Nothing out of place, no,” Aizawa said, already halfway up the steps. Immediately, Bakugou scooped his bag off the floor and tore the zipper open. After rifling through it, he kicked it onto the floor with a huff.

 

“It’s not fucking in there!”

 

“Did he take it?” Kaminari leaned in.

 

“Obviously, dumbass.”

 

“But he didn’t say anything to you?” Sero said.

 

Bakugou squinted. “He’s trying to avoid the topic. He doesn’t want to argue, he just wants me to forget it like everyone else.” He kicked the floor again.

 

* * *

 

In the kitchen, Iida scrubbed furiously at the bowl he was holding. “How could you all try to pull a stunt like that!? That was incredibly dangerous! You should consider yourselves lucky that Aizawa hadn’t punished you any further.” During their segment of chores, Tsuyu and Uraraka had brought Iida up to speed on Midoriya’s initiation in the attic, since it was let slip at breakfast. Naturally, being the by-the-book boy he was, Iida wasn’t happy to know they had gone and deliberately broken such an explicit house rule.

 

“It all worked out though, didn’t it?” Tsuyu reached up to shelf a stack of plates. “Bakugou may have been- well, Bakugou, but the whole thing was almost kinda exciting.”

 

“I was there when Midoriya got out,” Uraraka continued. “It’s not like he got hurt or anything. He even said himself, he thought it was cool up there.”

 

“He won’t find it ‘cool’ when Aizawa catches him!” Iida waved his arm back and forth. “He still has that key, doesn’t he? That may be why Aizawa searched our bags. I swear, Sero and Kaminari’s antics are going to get that poor boy into trouble.”

 

“You don’t think that’s why he ran off so fast with Todoroki, do you?” Tsu said. “I could hear them whispering to each other before Aizawa took their bags, but I couldn’t tell what they said. They sounded kinda scared.”

 

As Uraraka stood over the sink, washing her share of the dishes, she saw through the kitchen window as Midoriya sat down on the couch with Todoroki- both boys engaged in conversation. Later, she could also see as Aizawa returned all the bags with not a care or scold in the world. The two boys left the room just as quickly as they’d arrived. “They  _ have _ been kinda buddy-buddy lately, huh?”

 

* * *

 

The rest home where Toshinori stayed was just as calm and quiet as ever. Midoriya had the fortunate luck of meeting the same nurse he had before, who recognized him and allowed him visitation permission.

 

“So, how exactly does this man know you?” Todoroki asked as he and Midoriya made their way down the hall.

 

“I don’t know, exactly. I never even told him my last name, nevermind my first.”

 

“And you don’t find that a little odd?”

 

“No, it  _ did _ kinda freak me out. But I’m sure there’s some kind of explanation- and he sounded like he meant well.” Midoriya knocked gently on the door before he opened it.

 

“ _ Well,”  _ Todoroki said, “If he’s as jumpy as you say, maybe I ought to wait out here?”

 

“Sounds good,” he said with a nod. Midoriya stepped lightly into the pristine room, Todoroki still at the door frame.

 

“Hello? Toshinori?” The elderly man lay in his bed, almost as if he had been there since he’d last been. Slowly, he leaned his head up.

 

“Oh, it’s you.” Toshinori’s face lit up as Midoriya came to sit at his bedside. “Have you found it yet?”

 

“Er, found what?”

 

“Why, the treasure, Izuku.” There it was again. How  _ did _ he know his name? What did he mean by treasure?

 

“No, no treasure.” Midoriya pulled the locket out of his shirt. “I came to ask you where it is.”

 

Toshinori’s expression shifted, reaching for the eye. “Promise me you won’t let him find it. Please, promise me.”

 

“I-I promise! Don’t worry.” Midoriya put his hand on his shoulder, easing him back onto his pillow. “Hey, Toshinori?” he asked, clicking the locket open. “Do you know who this boy is?”

 

He took the open locket in a shaky but gentle hand, beaming yet again. “Is it you?” he said, chuckling slightly.

 

Midoriya blushed. “N-No, that can’t be me. This picture’s too old- and he’s way too handsome.” Todoroki giggled from behind the cracked door.

 

“Ah, who’s that?” 

 

“Oh.” Midoriya waved Todoroki in. “Toshinori, meet Todoroki. he’s a friend of mine.”

 

“Hello, sir.” Todoroki waved.

 

“Y-You mustn’t let him see it!” Toshinori’s hands were shaking even more, dropping the necklace into Midoriya’s. “Quickly! Hide it, please!” Todoroki backed up.

 

“Hey, it’s okay, it’s okay! It’s gone.” Midoriya shoved it into his pocket. “It’s alright, Toshinori,” He said, holding his hands. “Everything’s gonna be alright.”

 

Toshinori leaned in close. “The black cat is watching the house. You have to be careful!” he cried.

 

Todoroki blinked. “Black... cat?”

 

* * *

Bakugou slammed the polaroid down on the police station’s reception desk. “I need to report a missing person. We spoke on the phone earlier- Sergeant Sekijiro Kan, right?” He tapped his foot.

 

“Yes, that’s me. I remember your call.” The burly, gray haired officer cleared his throat. “So, can you tell me why you think this family is missing, again?”

 

“Not the whole family, just their son.”

 

“Then wouldn’t his family have filed this report sooner, if that was the case?”

 

“Not if they don’t know he’s gone!” Bakugou tapped his nails on the counter. “Please, you have his full name, can’t you find his address, or- or call his parents or something?” he choked back a sob as he spoke. “I don’t even know if he’s missing or not, but something weird is going on, and- and I don’t know what else to do.”

 

Kan scribbled something on a notepad. “I suppose I can make the case.”

 

“Please. Kirishima… he’s my b-” Bakugou tethered himself on the B-word. “-m-my best friend. I know he would’ve been in touch by now.”

 

“Hey,” The man’s voice softened. “No need to worry, kid. It’ll be alright. I’m sure we’ll be able to find something out, you just leave this to the experts.”

 

Bakugou rubbed his eye, struggling to keep himself together.  _ Nothing new to him, apparently.  _ “Thank you. Thank you so much.”

 

* * *

 

Todoroki shifted on the living room sofa, typing away at his laptop. “This website has an entire section on Egyptian hieroglyphics! I bet we could find something on here.” Midoriya may have heard him, but he had to admit that he wasn’t quite listening. He had zoned out in the locket picture.

 

“He doesn’t look like me at all, does he?”

 

Todoroki hummed, leaning over his shoulder to see. “You know, I think he may be right. You do look a little similar.” He gestured to the boy’s face. “I mean, you both have that… lively amount of hair,” He said as he ruffled at it.

 

“Yeah, but-” Midoriya tried to pat his hand away. “-his is much brighter colored than mine. I can tell, even if it is a black and white photo.”

 

“And the same pretty eyes.”

 

Midoriya blinked. “Y-You think they’re pretty?” Todoroki finally processed his blurted words as they were put out in the open. He stuttered for a moment.

 

“I-I… Yeah… they are.”

 

Midoriya smiled, equally embarrassed. “Well… maybe a passing resemblance.” he cleared his throat. “But, we still don’t know anything about who this boy is- or his relation to Toshinori, or this ‘treasure’ o-or-”

 

“What if the boy...  _ is  _ Toshinori?” Todoroki faced him. “He claimed he used to live in this house, right?”

 

Midoriya’s eyes widened. “What if the black cat is Furvus?”

 

“Well, we probably won’t have much to worry about, since it’s stuffed.”

 

He laughed a little. “It is a bit weird though, all this black cat stuff. That was my nightmare from the other night.”

 

“This whole thing is weird,” Todoroki said, shrugging. The two boys sat in silence for a while after that, tuned out from the background noise of their housemates milling about. At any given moment, either was staring at one of three things; the open locket and the photo inside it, the incredibly verbose website of hieroglyphics, or sometimes when the other wasn’t looking- each other. Eventually, Midoriya broke the silence.

 

“Hey, there!” He poked at the computer screen. “That looks just like the one from the portrait!”

Todoroki opened his phone, to the picture he’d taken of it. 

 

“Yeah. I thought so, that second symbol is definitely stairs.”

 

“And that one,” Midoriya continued, “says ‘buried’ or ‘underneath,’ and these eight tick marks… are the number eight!”

 

“‘Buried, stair, eight’... do you think that means the treasure- might be buried under the eighth stair?”

 

“Well, maybe I’ve seen too many Indiana Jones movies, but I think we could be onto something.”

 

Todoroki shut his laptop, a look of excitement on his face. “I think we could go grab my bike tools to pry up the floorboard. Come on!” leaving his thoughts on autopilot yet again, he grabbed Midoriya by his hand and led him upstairs. The two were greeted in the upstairs hallway by the familiar sound of one kvetching roommate.

 

“Bakugou! What on  _ earth  _ are you doing?” Iida shouted. For the second time that week, Bakugou was standing in the middle of the hallway in a pile of bedsheets- only this time, it was his own. 

 

“Trading.” He dragged a box full of his own belongings into the other bedroom, chucking it onto what was Todoroki’s bed. “I got Sero and Kaminari to move your shit out, half-and-half.”

 

“Aizawa was very specific, Bakugou!” In his trademark fashion, Iida furiously waved his hand, on its side, up and down repeatedly. “He said that nobody was to move rooms!”

 

“It’s not moving, hardass, I fuckin’ said it’s  _ trading _ .”

 

“Yeah, loopholes!” Kaminari cheered from the now-Todoroki’s bedroom.

 

“T-That’s not- don’t Midoriya or I get a say in this!?” Iida’s hands were flailing.

 

“How about the one who’s actually getting forced out..?” Midoriya shook his head. “Sorry about him, Todoroki.”

 

Todoroki watched as Sero spread his sheets across his new bed, just opposite to Midoriya’s. “Um- No-No worries. Just- uh, ask next time I guess, Bakugou.”

 

“Told ya he wouldn't mind.” Sero poked Kaminari with his elbow.

 

“Why, though? Why are you mov-” Midoriya cleared his throat. “ _ trading _ rooms anyway, Kacchan?”

 

Bakugou wanted so badly to groan in disgust at the nickname, but wanted to keep true to his words. “Because I meant what I said out there, dumbass. I’m just gettin’ out of your shitty hair- besides, I’ve got more important shit to focus on than yelling at you all the fuckin’ time.” He tossed the last of his belongings into the opposite room, shutting the door behind him and leaving the rest of Todoroki’s scattered in the hall for grabs.

 

“Ah! Here they are.” As much as Todoroki wanted to yell back at Bakugou for his careless care of his things, he wasn’t the only one with more important business. As he reached down for the compact case of tools, the grandfather clock rang downstairs.

 

“It’s ten o’clock,” came Aizawa’s voice, announcing the same speech he did every night. “You have five minutes precisely, and then I want to be able to hear a pin drop.” In a moment of held breaths all around, everyone could in fact hear the light clink of a pin on the marble floor even from upstairs.

 

Iida sighed. “Here, let me help you with all this,” he said as he began to collect the rest of Todoroki’s things.

 

“We should wait- just a little bit,” Midoriya whispered to Todoroki, who winked in reply. During their five-minute warning period before lights went out, the five boys were able to assemble Todoroki’s new corner easily enough- and once Sero and Kaminari had left, all of them settled into bed. Well, one of them at least.

 

* * *

 

Once they were certain Iida was asleep, Midoriya clicked on his flashlight, motioning for Todoroki to follow. The lights in the hallway had all been dimmed to near nothingness, but still faint to the observant eye. Tiptoeing out to the balcony over the main hall, they could just barely see Aizawa through his office window. Hopefully, he couldn’t see them.

 

Midoriya lowered himself onto his knees as he shifted down the stairs.  _ One, two, three, four… _

 

Right behind him, Todoroki gave a light knock to each stair.  _ Five- thump, Six- thump, Seven, thump… _

 

They both stopped at eight.  _ Knock. _ The wooden floorboard produced a different sound than the others- one that sounded hollow. Giving each other a knowing look, they each reached into the toolbox to get to work. As Midoriya pried up iron nails one by one, Todoroki took a crowbar to ease the aged wood away from the stair’s base. The board was completely removed within ten minutes.

 

“There!” he whispered. Inside the stair, a bundle of several cylinders were arranged. Midoriya picked one up, discovering they were all some type of canisters. The labels were smudged away after apparent years of erosion, but they could just make out a single word on one of them: “record.” In exact, they pulled out six of them.

 

“What do you think these are, Todoroki?”

 

“No idea. I’ve never seen anything like these before.” He tried shaking one, listening for a sound- nothing. “A little underwhelming for a treasure, to be honest,” he joked.

 

“Wait, what’s that?” Midoriya shined his flashlight into the stair again. They hadn’t seen it at first, but there was one more thing inside that the cylinders had been surrounding. The light reflected off it, giving the space a slightly gold tint.

 

“Woah.”

 

Midoriya pulled out the golden object. It felt dense in his hands, and was the size of two of his fists put together. It was hexagonal shape, a prism made of three of them, capped with an ornate looking dome. On all the sides of the hexagons, various symbols were engraved all around.

 

“More hieroglyphics?” Midoriya asked. With just a little force, he could twist each of the hexagons back and forth on an axis. “Wow, it feels like an ancient Rubik’s cube.”

 

“Hey, what if that’s what it is?” Todoroki traced a finger around the hieroglyphics. “Maybe it’s some sort of combination lock puzzle.”

 

_ Ding, dong _

 

The nearby clock rang its bell- it was eleven already. “We should pack these up,” Midoriya said as he gathered the prism and cylinders into his bag. “I think I’ve had enough spookiness for one night.” The two boys eased the plank back over the stairs, and were slowly starting back up- when the still loose board let out a roaring creak that was deafening to the night time silence.

 

“Who’s there?” They heard Aizawa call, followed by the click of his door opening.

 

“Go! Go back down!” Todoroki whisper-yelled. Skipping over the eighth step, the two boys scrambled to hide behind the other side of the stair railing. Footsteps from upstairs stopped for a second, and started again just behind them. As they drew closer and closer, they were suddenly overshadowed by the clang of the floorboard clattering the rest of the way downstairs, and a grunt from Aizawa. He must’ve tripped on the loose board.

 

Midoriya leaned further into the wall, holding his breath. They could just barely see Aizawa’s hands reach for and pick up the board, and hearing it fasten back into place with a dense stomp. Steps returned back up the stairs, in a less rhythmic fashion paired with groans of pain. He tried to breathe when they heard the door close again- only to have the rest of it scared back out of him in a gasp of surprise.

 

“Psst! Hello?”

 

“Ah! W-Who’s there?” he whispered. 

 

Around the nearby corner, Tsuyu leaned out. “We heard a bunch of noise.”

 

Midoriya sighed in relief. “You scared me.”

 

“Makes two of us,” Uraraka whispered from behind Tsu. “What are you guys doing down here?”

 

“Uh- um,” Midoriya stuttered, clutching at the bag full of secrets. “Midnight snack run?”

 

“Geez, you hear about an explosive appetite but this is ridiculous.” Tsu giggled.

 

“Oh- that was Aizawa.” Todoroki didn’t  _ completely  _ lie. “Shh.”

 

“Gotcha. Careful on your way up,” Uraraka waved them farewell as she and Tsuyu backed off to their bedroom.

 

On their tiptoe back upstairs, they saw the shutters in Aizawa’s office were open- so they took to crawling along the ground by his blind spots. They could see as Aizawa stood at his box of keys, hunched along one side as he gripped the red box holding the house’s first aid kit. Midoriya had remembered seeing a key labeled as such, so it made sense that he’d go to look for it. In fact, it was right next to…

 

_...wait. _

 

Aizawa stopped, suddenly, moving his hand to rifle along the shelf, and to the floor beneath it. Before Midoriya scampered away to his bedroom, he could hear Aizawa mutter under his breath.

 

“Where’s that attic key?”

 

* * *

 

Todoroki was still catching his breath even after Midoriya locked the bedroom door behind him. “My heart is still pounding. I hope I can sleep tonight.”

 

“I don’t think I’m ever gonna sleep again!” Midoriya laughed. “I can’t believe we got away with that.”

 

“Got away with what?”  _ Oh, speak of the devil. _ Iida clicked on his lamp, glaring at his two roommates. “You weren’t trying to sneak up in the attic again, were you?” Both boys froze. “Yes, that’s right. I was told all about your little escapade from last night! Were you or were you not up there tonight?”

 

“W-What? No! No way!” Midoriya’s hands flailed. “We were just- uh-”

 

“Studying!” Todoroki finished. Again, not entirely a lie. “We, uh- forgot to finish our homework, and we left it downstairs.”

 

Iida still seemed taken aback, but his confrontational expression ceased. “Why did you not just say so sooner? I would’ve been happy to help the two of you.” He reached for the bag.

 

“No!” Midoriya yanked it away. “I-I mean- It’s all done, so, y-you wouldn’t wanna see it! That’d be cheating, wouldn’t it?”

 

Iida raised an eyebrow. “I… suppose?” his then stance changed back to his perfect prefect persona. “Just don’t go sneaking around like that again!” he waved his hand back and forth the same say he always did.

 

“S-Sorry Iida!”

 

* * *

 

Bakugou received an email around lunchtime that next day, as he and his friends were walking back to the house for lunch.

  
  


_ Hello, Bakugou, _

 

_ I’m sorry that I haven’t been in contact, it has been rather hectic since I left. My family has a situation going on, and they needed to get me out of the school as soon as possible. I was a bit shocked myself. Anyway, I just wanted to let you and the others know that I’m fine, I know it must’ve been odd seeing me leave so suddenly. I hope that you are all okay and not missing me too much. _

 

_ Sincerely,  _

_ Eijirou Kirishima _

 

He kept an irritated monotony in his voice as he read the message out loud, returning to his well-known grumble when he spoke next. “This is fucking bullshit,” he muttered. “It’s written out all properly.” He loved the boy to bits, honestly, but when was the last time he spoke over message to a friend with correct grammar? “It’s not even from his fucking email address.” Sure, the message was tagged with his full name, but the actual address was different from the one he had saved in his contacts.

 

“That message sounds kinda serious, you know. Makes sense that he didn’t wanna use text speak,” Sero said.

 

“Even I write stuff like that out sometimes.” Kaminari added. That did say something- the boy was notorious with using jumbled up text speak and slang even in his school notes- he claimed it saved paper.

 

“And I guess the new address makes sense if he’s moved,” Ashido also added. “If he hasn’t gotten his phone back in the mail yet, either.”

 

Bakugou sighed, pinching the bridge of his nose. “I guess you’re all right.”  _ Damn, he fucking hated admitting he was wrong.  _ “Sorry I’ve been driving you all so fucking crazy.”

 

Sero clapped a hand on his back. “You were just worried about Kiri, man. Good to hear he’s safe.” Kaminari and Ashido also voiced their agreements as the four of them walked into the house. He did think it was good to hear, but he still had a little trouble believing it. He always thought of himself as a little distrusting, but that still didn’t explain the what the teachers were…

 

_...what the fuck was that smell? _

 

The house was usually empty at this time of day- save for Aizawa, who usually isolated himself in his own room anyway. But today, he was at the dining table, in the middle of a conversation with another adult. Bakugou leaned around the corner of the room, shocked to recognize the other face immediately. 

 

“So, do you think the whole Kirishima issue has gone away, then?” Sergeant Kan asked the other man.

 

“I haven’t gotten any complaint about it from Bakugou in a while- those messages you sent out ought to do the trick. Now we can focus on the organization of the next gathering.”

 

“Are you still worried that the betrayer might return?” Kan asked again, arms crossed.

 

“We can’t take any risks.” Aizawa pulled something from his coat pocket, dropping it into a bin that sat between the two of them. Bakugou felt his heart drop in his chest when he saw the fire burning inside it, billowing out the smoke he had smelled, and the familiar file folder he’d just trashed into it. He heard three stifled gasps from behind him. Bakugou was always good at hiding his emotions, but he couldn’t contain the fear in his eyes when he looked back at his equally terrified friends.

 

“Anyway, it’s done and over now,” Aizawa said. “Kirishima is buried. End of story.”

  
  



	6. Hush and Shush

Bakugou felt sick to his stomach.

 

“ _It’s done and over now. Kirishima is buried. End of story.”_

 

He had retreated to his room, along with his roommates plus Ashido. All four of them milled about the room in disarray and disbelief of what they’d heard. None of them even bothered going to their afternoon lessons.

 

“No, you old hag, this isn’t a fucking bid for attention!” he screamed into his phone. “One of my friends could be dead!”

 

“Dude, can you not use the D-word? You’re freakin’ me out!” Kaminari stuttered.

 

Bakugou cut off his mother mid-argument, hanging up and throwing his phone down onto his bed with sheer force. “Don’t you think _I’m_ fucking freaked out, dumbass!?”

 

“He said ‘buried’, Kaminari!” Ashido agreed. “What else is that supposed to mean!?”

 

“The only thing around here that’s buried are you assholes’ heads in the fuckin’ sand! I’ve been telling you all something fucked up’s happening, dammit, and none of you listened to me!”

 

“Bakugou,” Sero said as he leaned into the conversation. “I spoke my mom, and she said Kirishima’s parents emailed her too. They told her they’re sending him to some international school, or something, and they don’t want any of us to get in touch.”

 

“Bullshit!” He yelled. “They wouldn’t do that!”

 

“Kirishima’s never done anything wrong, ever!” Ashido said. “Who would ever want to..?” She choked back a sob in her words. Despite what she herself had just said before, she still couldn’t bring herself to say it.

 

“Then why don’t we just call the police?” Kaminari said.

 

“They’re in on it! Everyone’s fucking in on it!” Bakugou gestured out the door. “Probably the whole fucking station! What the hell are we supposed to do!?” he slammed the door shut in anger, and buried his face in his hands. “What the hell are we supposed to do?” he repeated, quieter. Nobody moved, or spoke, nobody knew how to react. All they could do was sit in silence as the despair settled over them.

 

* * *

 

That evening, Midoriya had a field day at the local public library. Through numerous shelves of books and articles on Egyptian mythology, he still brought back a stack over half his own height to the house. He probably shouldn’t have been surprised when he tripped over himself halfway through the door while carrying them.

 

As he stood up, he braced himself on the railing on the stairs. His fingers hooked around the carving in the railing, right through the… the shape that was becoming rather familiar.

 

It was all along the stairway, one parallel to every step- carved up the wall of the railing, Midoriya stared at each and every one of-

 

“The eyes.” he whispered to himself.

 

* * *

 

In the nearby living room, Todoroki had also found a bibliothecal gold mine in the form of historical newspaper archives- and he’d just struck twenty-four carats. Once he saw Midoriya standing in the foyer, he ran right over to him.

 

“You’ve gotta see this!” they both said at the same time. “Oh, you first!” they both said again. Both boys laughed for a moment, before Todoroki gestured for Midoriya to start.

 

“Look at this,” he said, pointing to the stairway. “This shape that’s cut into the banister- I thought it was just some abstract design, but, it looks exactly like..!” he flashed the locket from under the collar of his shirt.

 

“The eye,” Todoroki finished.

 

“It’s the eye of Horus!” Midoriya shuffled through his tower of books, retrieving one and flipping through several pages, and stopped to read one off. “The eye of Horus is said to be a powerful ancient Egyptian symbol of protection.” he turned the book to show him, with the eye emblazoned across the page. “This eye is the same one that opens the panel in the attic, the same one on the locket!”

 

“That makes a lot of sense.” Todoroki flashed his laptop screen, to a scan of an old newspaper. “I’ve been doing a bit of research myself, and it turns out the Yagis had a bit of a thing for ancient Egypt. They were a part of _the_ Howard Carter expedition to find King Tutankhamun’s tomb!”

 

Midoriya’s eyes lit up. “Which would explain why they named the house Anubis! And all these hieroglyphics we keep finding.”

 

“That’s not all. Look at this.” Todoroki scrolled down some, and zoomed in on a corner in the newspaper. “Look familiar?”

 

“Hey, that’s..!” printed on the old paper was an advertisement for the Edison phonograph- an authentic glimpse from its heyday. Displayed next to it, were several tall cans- all labeled ‘Edison Gold Moulded Records’.

 

“Those cylinders we found under the stair- they must be phonograph cylinders! There’s got to be something recorded on them. I’ll bet you I know who used them too.”

 

“The Yagis,” Midoriya answered. “But… why? If this was their house- their own land, why would they need to hide anything?”

 

“I don’t know, but,” Todoroki shut his laptop. “I think I know how we could find out.”

 

Midoriya nodded. “We need to find something that can play those cylinders.” in one hand, he pulled the locket off of his neck- and with the other, pulled out a certain key from his back pocket. “Are you thinking what I’m thinking?”

 

* * *

 

By the time Iida had finished his shower, it was already dark outside- but still a short while away from ten. Despite that, everyone else seemed to have disappeared to their rooms- except for Uraraka and Tsuyu. From the stairs, He could see the two girls sitting on the living room couch, wrapping up a session of homework.

 

“Hey, careful on the loose stair Iida,” Tsuyu called.

 

“Hm?” With his foot, Iida tapped the stair he was about to step on. He jumped when the board slipped away from under it. “Ah! Thank you for the warning. Somebody could have tripped on that!” he said, easing it back into place.

 

“Kinda late for that- Aizawa already called someone to fix it, cause he slipped on it last night,” Uraraka commented. “Midoriya and Todoroki too, I think.”

 

Iida furrowed his eyebrows. “Midoriya and Todoroki, you say? last night?”

 

“Yep.” Tsuyu flipped her notebook shut. “They were creeping around down here last night- about an hour after lights out. Who knows why, though.”

 

“They said they were just snacking, but,” Uraraka spoke as she stacked her books together. “We would’ve heard them pass our room if they’d gone into the kitchen- which we didn’t.”

 

Iida finally came into the living room to sit, now engaged with the topic of his roommates. “That’s rather odd…” He adjusted his glasses. “I caught them sneaking back into the bedroom around the same time, and they didn’t appear to have been eating. They told me that they’d just been studying.”

 

Tsuyu hummed. “Y’know, come to think of it, I’m not sure I heard anything anywhere _besides_ near the stairs. It _is_ kinda weird.”

 

“So then what do you think they _were_ doing?”

 

* * *

 

Todoroki brushed some dust off another large box. The attic was filled with all sorts of old furniture and devices, and it didn’t take long for them to dig up one that matched the photo from the newspaper.

 

“Nice, Todoroki!” Midoriya whispered.

 

Todoroki smiled. “Here, let’s try to get it set up.” While he tinkered with the old contraption, Midoriya dug the wax cylinders and the gold puzzle box from his backpack. He popped the lid off one of the canisters, the inside of which was marked with the number 1. All the other cylinder’s lids were also labeled with the rest of the numbers 2 through 6.

 

“Maybe that’s the order they’re played in?” He clicked the “1” cylinder into the machine, and nodded to Todoroki to start it. He started to wind the crank, turning the cylinder- and when he let go, producing a faint scratchy sound that soon turned into a voice.

 

_“Mother and Father have given the house a name- Anubis. I think it’s Egyptian.”_

 

“It sounds like a little boy,” Todoroki whispered.

 

“You don’t think that’s..?” Midoriya lifted his locket.

 

 _“They’re going away again soon. To Egypt again, I think. Father says they have to for their work.”_ The boy sniffled. _“But when they leave, I’ll be all alone again. With him.”_ The cylinder clicked as it came to its abrupt conclusion.

 

“It sounded like he was crying…” Midoriya wiped one of his own tears away. He couldn’t help being so easily sympathetic.

 

“I guess it’s some kind of audio diary,” Todoroki said. “It’s awfully short for these things. I think you’re right, that must be why they’re numbered.” he changed to the second cylinder and played it.

 

“ _Father always says that there’s life in everything. He even said there’s life in the house, but it’s sleeping right now.”_

 

“The house is… sleeping?” Todoroki repeated.

 

 _“He says it’s lost something. I don’t know what it is, but… I want to help find it. I want the house to be happy. I want us to be happy.”_ As the cylinder ended again, neither spoke as they changed from 2 to 3.

 

 _“Mother and Father still haven’t returned yet. I don’t know when they’ll be back. He won’t tell me, either.”_ The boy stopped talking for a moment, the sound of recorded background noises filling until he spoke again. _“He’s so mean, sometimes. I tell him and I tell him, I have no idea where it is. He doesn’t listen to me._ ” Click.

 

“Who do you think ‘he’ is?” Midoriya asked. Todoroki said nothing as he switched in the fourth. The boy’s voice was melancholic before, but he was clearly crying in the next recording.

 

_“I don’t want to stay here. I’m frightened of what will happen to me.”_

 

Midoriya scooted in closer to Todoroki. Neither knew what to say or express at the sorrowful story they were hearing.

 

_“I wish my parents would come back. Sometimes, I see their faces in the mirror- but I know they’re not there. I know it wasn’t an accident. He did it. He murdered them.”_

 

As if the attic wasn’t already cold enough, both boys felt a chill down their spines at the diary’s sudden turn. The fifth cylinder wasn’t any better.

 

_“He spends a lot of time in the cellar with his animals. The dead animals he stuffs. That mean looking cat scares me the most.”_

 

“C-Cat?” Midoriya stuttered out. “Does he mean..?”

 

 _“I’m more convinced than ever, now. He’s responsible for the death of my parents.”_ His jaw dropped wide open, but he had to keep from crying out at the voice that came next.

 

 _“It’s ten o’clock,”_ came from background of the scratchy recording.

 

Todoroki’s eyes widened. “T-Thats..!”

 

_“Oh no, he’s coming!”_

 

_“You have five minutes, precisely, and then I want to be able to hear a pin drop.”_

 

Midoriya went pale. “Aizawa?”

 

The cylinder stopped, leaving only one left. Both boys just stared at each other in disbelief before either even considered picking it up. When they had, Todoroki slowly turned the crank of the machine and let go as they waited for the voice- that is, if the sound that followed could even be called that. Rather than words, the cylinder emitted a horrifying screech that echoed through the whole room.

 

* * *

 

After a long evening of desperate panic and feelings of uncertainty, Bakugou had gone to bed early. All he could think about- awake or not- was Kirishima. It was as if _he_ was chasing _him,_ and not the other way around as it had been. He’d even followed him into his dreams.

 

_“Kirishima? Is that you?”_

 

_He could only stare as the door in front of him creaked open slowly._

 

_“Kirishima!?”_

 

Before he could reach for it, the door slammed shut in his face. Likewise, he could feel his eyes slam open. He couldn’t feel anything else.

 

All he could do was stare.

 

His eyes darted around, looking for the telltale mess of red. He could see black, and he could see yellow, both lying dormant in their own beds. But not red. The more he tried, the heavier his chest became. He felt completely powerless over his own body.

 

The third figure, appearing almost suddenly in his vision, didn’t have it either. It was hard to see it in the dark room, but he could still only stare as it stared back. Through his terrible mop of blue hair, he saw red- but not the red he was looking for. Only when its piercing eyes seemed to flash at him did his body gain the courage to sit him up, with a gasping scream. The ceiling felt the need to do the same.

 

“Who’s there?” Bakugou managed to say. The figure was gone, but his fear wasn’t. The screeching continued, muffled but echoed around all sides. He synchronized with it. _“Who’s there!?”_

 

* * *

 

Midoriya’s hands immediately flew to his ears. “T-Turn it off!”

 

Todoroki scrambled to the crank, tugging desperately to no avail. When that didn’t work, he reached for the horn and yanked it off the device, silencing it. The only sounds left in the room were their ears ringing and heavy breaths.

 

He was the first to speak. “W-What the hell was that?”

 

“I-I don’t know. That was way creepier than I was hoping.” Midoriya sealed the wax cylinder back in its can.

 

“It sounded like a voice.”

 

“Or a scream.” He made eye contact with the other boy. “A deathbed scream. Of someone who _really_ doesn’t want to die.”

 

Todoroki blinked through his mutual shock. “That’s… pretty descriptive.” He reattached the horn and boxed up the phonograph. “A-Anyway, that one looked different from the others. It was all worn and scratched up along the grooves.”

 

Midoriya breathed. “Maybe that’s why it made that noise?” Speaking of noise, the groan of the door downstairs interrupted them.

 

“Is there someone up there?” Aizawa’s voice called.

 

“Oh no.” Midoriya grabbed Todoroki with one hand, and the locket with his other. “Come on!” Hands shaking, he clicked the eye of Horus into its socket, and dashed into the hollow to hide himself and Todoroki away from the approaching predator.

 

Once again, Aizawa found the attic empty- but that shrill noise was undeniable. Midoriya kept his hands clamped over his mouth as he heard him stalk around the attic, booted footsteps echoing menacingly. He shivered while leaning against the cold stone wall. Moving ever so gently, Todoroki eased off his hoodie and draped it over Midoriya’s front.

 

“Thank you,” he mouthed.

 

Even when the footsteps stopped and the door shut in the distance, they opted to wait a few minutes for good measure. The clock was tolling ten by the time they’d gotten out. Aizawa’s voice came from the ground floor, giving his signature lights out speech.

 

“Well that answers one question,” Todoroki said.

 

Midoriya locked the attic door behind him. “But it also raises a lot more.”

 

* * *

 

For the very first time, Aizawa came downstairs at breakfast time. Nobody knew what to say or do as he loomed over the table.

 

“I’m going to ask you all one question, and I expect an answer.” he planted both hands down. “Who has the spare key to the attic?”

 

Nobody answered. Nobody moved, or breathed. Aizawa huffed.

 

“I know that somebody has been going up there. Just last night, as a matter of fact. Was it you?” He turned his head to Kaminari, who was sitting closest to where he stood. That, and he was known for repeat offense.

 

“No,” he stuttered out. He was already scared enough of Aizawa when he was mad, and recent events only amplified that.

 

“Was it _you?”_ he said to Sero, who sat in the next seat over.

 

“No.”

 

“You?” Aizawa cycled through everyone around the table, receiving the same answer from all of them. Midoriya was the last to be accused.

 

“I’m losing my patience. Was it you?” He glared down at him intensely.

 

“N-No,” he whimpered. Aizawa straightened up, opening his mouth to speak. Before he could, Midoriya interrupted him.

 

“Okay, yes!”

 

“Aha.”

 

“No,” Todoroki said. Everyone looked over at him. “He’s covering for me. I did it.”

 

“It was you, Todoroki?” Aizawa pocketed his hands.

 

“Yeah. Guilty as charged.”

 

“No, he’s lying,” Midoriya said. “It was me!”

 

“Make your minds up, who was it?”

 

“Me.” Tsuyu stood up from her chair. “I stole the key.”

 

“What?”

 

“A-Actually, she’s lying.” Uraraka stood up. “It was me, Mr. Aizawa.”

 

“Ohhh,” Ashido awed. “I mean, no. It was me. I stole the key. I _love_ to steal keys, like, _so_ much.”

 

“You guys, that’s enough,” Sero said. “You all know that I took it. You don’t need to cover for me.”

 

“No!” Kaminari said, planting a hand on Sero’s shoulder. Sero knew they were both lying, but he still savored the moment. “You know it’s obvious that I stole that key, duh.”

 

Aizawa grunted in irritation. “Stop playing me for a fool. Tell me who _really_ has the key.”

 

“I took it.” Of all people, nobody expected Bakugou to hop onto the bandwagon. While Aizawa stared the whole group down, Bakugou stared right back.

 

Aizawa didn’t even acknowledge him, and moved on to the last suspect. “Iida. I know that I can rely on you. Tell me who it was that stole the attic key.”

 

Iida’s eyes darted around to everyone in the room. He didn’t dare keep them on any one person for longer than a second, but everyone else’s surrounded him. When he finally spoke, it was through gritted teeth.

 

“It was me.”

 

Aizawa stepped back. “That’s it.” he stomped his foot, hard. “That. Is. It! You’re all grounded for the entire weekend! Nobody is to leave this house for anything besides school, until one of you fesses it up.” Aizawa stomped away, leaving the room in silence. All eyes immediately turned to Midoriya- who, to their surprise, was already holding the key in question for all to see.

 

“I had an idea,” he said. “I’ll go plant it on the floor outside his office. Maybe he’ll think he dropped it. If he has it, he can’t search us for it.”

 

“And why should we all take the rap for you?” Kaminari huffed.

 

“Why?” Todoroki said. “How about because you guys are the ones that made him steal it in the first place.”

 

“I’ll do it.” Bakugou reached over and snatched the key from Midoriya.

 

“Kacchan? Why are you-”

 

“Don’t fuckin’ worry about it, that’s why.” He pocketed the key. “You all get the hell outta here, I’ll do it when he thinks we’re gone.”

 

After breakfast had ended, everyone else was halfway out the door. Midoriya looked back at Bakugou, who was halfway crawling up the stairs to avoid the attention. His glance was broken by an intense glare from Iida as he passed by him. Ducking his head, and holding on to both of the straps of his bag, Midoriya followed out the door.

 

* * *

 

Bakugou, of course, wasn’t doing this willingly- but he decided taking advantage of the situation was his best bet. As he crawled up to the closed door, he could hear the faint sound of Aizawa’s desk phone dialing. He spoke a moment later.

 

“I’m just checking in. Is he behaving?”

 

_‘He?’ What the hell?_

 

“I figured as much. I’ll tell you the same I had before, his cooperation is imperative- and we will get it from him, one way or another.”

 

Aizawa always came off as creepy to him, but this side of his that’d been showing recently was something else.

 

“I understand,” Aizawa said. “I _will_ have them all together when the time is right. For now, you must make sure that Kirishima stays put. His time will come soon.”

 

Bakugou would’ve froze on the spot if he hadn’t dropped the key in his panic, and scurried away.

 

* * *

 

Mr. Yamada’s drama lesson carried the class on into the school’s smaller theater, a simple room with a small stage. It was hardly fit for any sophisticated production, and was more used for student recreation. Several bean bags and a few sofas even dotted the room, courtesy of a few students who chose a double the room as a lounge for socializing between classes.

 

“Get into pairs, please!” he announced. He guided the groups through a lesson on improv acting, which they were to each demonstrate. As they waited for their turn, Midoriya and Todoroki sat in a corner of the room to talk in private.

 

“How’s the puzzle box going along?” Todoroki whispered.

 

Midoriya patted his bag, indicating his possession of the object in question. “Still stumped. That hieroglyphics website was a dead end. It’s like the whole internet’s never even heard of them.”

 

“Something not on the internet? Is that even possible?” Todoroki joked.

 

Midoriya laughed. “I was hoping this’d be easier, like the last clue.” he pulled a book out of his bag, a piece of his library haul. “But I’m not giving up on it yet.”

 

“Midoriya? Todoroki?” Mr. Yamada spoke over the group in turn. “Pay attention, please.”

 

Midoriya stuffed the book away. “Ah, sorry Mr. Yamada!”

 

Yamada cleared his throat. “Anyway, please continue, Sero.” Sero and Bakugou were paired, the former of which began with a speech for their improv exercise. Bakugou didn’t even listen, he just stood with his hands in his pockets, staring out the window behind him. His gaze was so completely transfixed on the greenery outside, he almost didn’t notice the man standing before it. What he did notice immediately, though, was how familiar he was. How he’d haunted him just that last night.

 

“Hellooo? Bakugou? Line?” Sero snapped his fingers in front of his face.

 

“D-Did anyone else see that?” he pointed to the window.

 

“See what?” Yamada stepped in.

 

“That man! He was staring at me!” The class crowded around the window, and when Bakugou turned back- the blue-haired man had disappeared. Nothing but the rustling of the thick trees could be seen.

 

“I saw someone out there! I swear!”

 

Sero leaned over his shoulder. “Bakugou, what are you-?”

 

“Sero.” Bakugou whispered fast through gritted teeth. “Kirishima’s still out there somewhere. I heard Aizawa on the phone, and he was talking about him!”

 

“B-But what was-?” Sero pointed out the window with a thumb.

 

“I don’t know! I don’t know, okay? But something weird is going on, and I-I-”

 

“Bakugou,” Yamada pulled the boy aside, as the school bell rang. “Er- class dismissed.” he waved the rest of his students off. “Bakugou, is something wrong?”

 

“I- uh-” Bakugou stuttered. He grabbed Sero by the arm, and flagged Kaminari and Ashido down as well. He thought long and hard for a moment before he could make eye contact with Yamada again.

 

He saw that the police were in on it, he saw that the other teachers we in on it, but Yamada- he was new to the school. He didn’t know everyone else as well- and that included his fellow staff.

 

What if that made him different?

 

* * *

 

Midoriya locked the restroom stall door behind him, and sat himself down as he rummaged through his backpack. Everywhere in the school was too busy to have it out in the open, so he found himself with little options. The privacy of the restroom would have to do.

 

The golden puzzle box still glimmered bright in the white light of the bathroom. As he flipped through the pages of the egyptology book, he toyed with the box- trying out several different combinations of the perplexing hieroglyphics. None of them offered any reaction.

 

He sighed in frustration. “What are you hiding?”

 

_Click_

 

Midoriya’s breath hitched after hearing the sound above him. Looming over the wall of the nextdoor stall, Iida was holding his open phone, presenting the incriminating photo he’d just taken.

 

“What are _you_ hiding?”

  
  



	7. Join the Club

“Everyone thinks I’m crazy. Even I think I’m crazy.” Bakugou paced around the otherwise empty classroom, his three friends at arms length, while Mr. Yamada sat and listened to him spiel. “I think Kirishima’s life might be in danger- and the other teachers have something to do with it.”

 

He raised an eyebrow. “The teachers?” he repeated.

 

Bakugou cleared his throat. “Before you started, he just… disappeared. It happened so suddenly, like, in just a couple hours. They said he’d just gone home, but he’s not answering any of my calls, and they’ve erased him from the school photo, _and_ they burned his damn file!”

 

“They? You mean the teachers?”

 

“The teachers, Aizawa, even the police! They’re all a part of it! I swear Mr. Yamada, I’m telling the truth!”

 

Yamada rubbed his chin, waiting a moment before he spoke. “Alright,” he said. “I believe you.”

 

* * *

 

“Iida, please!” Midoriya had chased Iida all the way back to the house- which wasn’t easy, considering he was the star of the school’s track team.

 

“Midoriya,” Iida spoke for the first time since he’d ditched him in the restroom. “I don’t like having to blackmail you like this, but I do think Kaminari had a point about you shifting your blame onto all of us!” Iida waved his signature chopping-motion hand gesture. “So why don’t you tell me what you’ve been up to, or I’ll go to Mr. Aizawa with this- along with the truth about the attic key!”

 

Midoriya winced. “Okay, I’ll tell you. But you have to promise not to tell anyone! Please! It’s too important.”

 

Iida straightened up. “We’ll have to see about that.”

 

Midoriya led him upstairs to their shared room, in hopes of privacy. Unfortunately, the other half of his secret was being interrogated in there as well.

 

“Is this why you guys were sneaking around?” Tsuyu asked. Her voice contained no malice, but brimmed with confusion and curiosity.

 

“What _is_ that he’s holding?” Uraraka also asked. Her phone, in her hand, displayed the exact same image Iida had taken not ten minutes before.

 

“U-Uraraka!” Midoriya stammered out.

 

“Midoriya?” Both girls said.

 

“Midoriya!” Todoroki said, in a different tone.

 

“Iida!” Midoriya said again.

 

Iida took a breath. “I might have forwarded it to them on the way here…” he pulled out his own phone. “But only them! I promise, see?” Iida showed the outgoing message, confirming the girls contacts were the only ones attached. “I’m still serious about telling Aizawa, though! Now answer my question, what were you two doing?”

 

Midoriya looked between everyone in the room, who all stared at him with different undertones in their eyes.

 

“Well…”

 

* * *

 

Bakugou dragged Mr. Yamada down the school corridor, practically throwing him at the classroom door. It was a good thing Yamada was as patient as he was, Bakugou already had a hard enough time being taken seriously by the other adults. He nodded his head to the door, as if to tell him to go inside. As Yamada opened the door, Bakugou ducked behind it so as not to be seen.

 

Ms. Kayama, preparing material for a later class, was scribbling away at the chalkboard, an open book in her other hand. Yamada cleared his throat to catch her attention.

 

“One woe doth tread upon another’s heel,” he read off the half-finished chalkboard. He recognized the excerpt from Shakespeare’s _Hamlet._

 

“So fast they follow,” she finished, chuckling. “How can I help you, Hizashi?”

 

“Well,” he shifted on his feet. “I’m a little worried about a student- Katsuki Bakugou, and I was hoping you could give me some advice. He says a friend of his has gone missing- er, Eijirou Kirishima, he says. He seems to believe he’s been removed or kidnapped.”

 

Kayama hummed. “I can certainly give you some advice, Hizashi. Bakugou is quite an… excitable young boy, and he has a very vivid imagination."

 

“Yes, I gathered. I just think it might help if he or I could speak to this Kirishima boy. Call him at home, maybe?”

 

She closed her book. “Ehm, I’m afraid I’m not at liberty to disclose personal details like that. But I _can_ assure you that Kirishima is safe and at home. Surely, Bakugou can take your word for it as well, yes?”

 

The open door shook slightly on its hinges.

 

* * *

 

The more Midoriya opened up, the more he wanted to close back off. Still, he and Todoroki spilled. They told Iida, Uraraka, and Tsuyu everything- meeting Toshinori, the locket, the eye of Horus, the empty stair, the secret panel, the puzzle box, and the cylinders. Todoroki had even provided a copy of the audio diary that he’d recorded with his own phone, from when he and Midoriya first listened to it.

 

Iida pushed his glasses up his awestruck face. “This is… a lot to take in, Midoriya.”

 

“Yeah, join the club. Do you see now why you can’t say anything?”

 

“I suppose.”

 

“So, this treasure,” Uraraka said, leaning against the window and fiddling with a corner of peeling wallpaper behind her. “What is it, exactly?”

 

“I’m not sure. Toshinori didn’t say.”

 

“Then why don’t we just ask him?” Tsuyu put a finger on her chin.

 

“We tried that, actually.” Todoroki twiddled his thumbs. “He’s a little, uh… senile.”

 

“Then how did he know Midoriya’s name?” Uraraka flicked at the paper again.

 

“Uraraka,” Iida interrupted. “Perhaps you shouldn’t play with-”

 

The corner of wallpaper ripped under her hand.

 

“Oh, sorry!” She knelt down the floor, and tried to push the paper back into place. The more she tried, though, the more the aged paper peeled away from the wall. In a few seconds, it peeled enough to show a piece of the inner wall covered in… scratches?

 

“Huh..? Hey, look at this!” She tore the square of paper completely off, revealing the entire thing. On the piece of wall was a large series of tally marks, in groups of five. Underneath it were four scraggly words.

 

_Help me! -Toshinori Yagi_

 

Midoriya gasped as he read it out loud, the other three in the room leaning in behind them. “Woah, good fidgeting Uraraka.”

 

“Yagi…” she muttered. “Hey, that’s the name of the people who founded the house.”

 

“Those two people in the old dining room painting!” Tsuyu affirmed. “Toshinori must be their son.”

 

“Toshinori…” Midoriya repeated. “Maybe we _should_ go and talk to him again.”

 

* * *

 

Bakugou hated walking through the woods- all those bullshit romance stories completely overrated it. It was still the best shortcut from the main school building back to Anubis House- he was not in the mood for other people. He hated the humidity, he hated the bugs, and of course the massive amount of _green_ was damn near sickening to him. Of all things though, he couldn’t say he was particularly fond of ghostly, blue-haired men seemingly haunting him.

 

_And yet._

 

“Bakugou,” he said. The blond whipped around, to see him standing in a thicket a few feet away.

 

“No,” he growled. “Get the hell away from me! Leave me alone!”

 

“Bakugou, please.” he held out a hand.

 

“I said get away!” Bakugou turned on his heel and bolted.

 

The house was already in view. He ran up behind it, leaning against the wall to catch his breath. He wasn’t followed. Slumping down to the ground, sighing with exhaustion, he jumped at hearing the sudden crunch from under him.

 

_Fuck. Did he just sit on glass?_

 

His hiding spot was right next to a dumpster- he couldn’t deny the possibility. Gently, he eased his rear end off the dirt, hearing the light crinkle of shards hitting the ground again. They weren’t shards of a bottle or something, though- rather, he stared at the now decimated screen of a cell phone, damaged way too much for his ass to be to blame.

 

He recognized the red case instantly.

 

_Why the fuck would his phone be-?_

 

 _...Oh yeah._ He looked up to the second floor windows. _That's_ _fucking why._

 

* * *

 

According to the nurse that cared for him, Toshinori slept most hours of the afternoon. Other than Midoriya, he apparently never had any visitors- and in his state and age, he had little else to do. Midoriya held his cool hand as he rested, while Uraraka and Tsuyu sat on the opposite side of his bed. Todoroki and Iida had chosen to stay in the hallway, hoping not to risk spooking him.

 

“He looks nice for his age,” Tsuyu said.

 

“Hm?” Midoriya looked up. “Oh, I guess. I actually don’t know how old he is.”

 

“Well, think about it. The house is, like, over 120 years old. If he really is that boy from the recordings…”

 

“Woah, you’re right. I guess I didn’t think of it that way.” He rubbed his thumb in a circle over the back of Toshinori’s hand. In his sleep, he seemed to smile a little. “Toshinori?” Midoriya whispered to him. He started to stir a little in his bed. “Toshinori, do you remember me?”

 

His eyes opened gently, fixed on him. “The one with the power.” his voice was somewhat hoarser than before.

 

“What does that mean?” Uraraka whispered to Tsu.

 

“Toshinori, hey. It’s me, Izuku.” He patted a hand over his heart- and the locket.

 

He sat up, slightly. “Have you found it?”

 

“No, not yet. But we found some cylinders, and we heard a little boy.”

 

Toshinori stared off into space. “Rock-a-bye baby, on the treetop…”

 

“Yes! The boy from the recordings.”

 

“Look,” he lifted his arm, and pointed towards the empty wall. “He’s sleeping.”

 

Midoriya put both his hands on Toshinori’s own, hoping to catch his attention. Gently, he leaned in. “The boy said something about… a murder. D-Do you know..?”

 

“The man who kills.” he leaned his head to the side. “He wants to stay forever... he wants to tip the scales of life.” Uraraka and Tsuyu exchanged looks.

 

“Who, Toshinori?” Midoriya pleaded. “Do you know who it is?”

 

Toshinori gazed into the mirror on his end table. “Sometimes I see their faces in the mirror… but I know they’re not there.”

 

Uraraka perked up. “That’s the same as the recordings.”

 

“You really _are_ the boy from the cylinders!” Midoriya shook his hand. “And your name really _is_ Toshinori!”

 

He leaned back down on his pillows, eyes shut and mumbling. Though unintelligible for the most part, his last words before falling back asleep were unmistakable.

 

“My mummy is dead…”

 

Midoriya teared up. “What happened to them, Toshinori? Who killed them?” Toshinori was already sound asleep.

 

Uraraka leaned over him to whisper to Midoriya. “Hey, you don’t really think it was… Aizawa at the end of the recordings, do you?”

 

He wiped his eye. “N-No. It can’t be. It’s like you said, those cylinders are too old.” He didn’t want to believe it, but he truly wasn’t sure what to believe at all. He stood up. “Anyway, I think that’s all we're gonna get for today. We should go.”

 

* * *

 

“This is definitely Kirishima’s.” Bakugou turned the shattered phone over in his hands as he dragged the drama teacher through the hallway. “Which means Aizawa never sent it back to him.”

 

“It certainly looks that way,” Mr. Yamada replied.

 

“No wonder he never answered any of my calls. But this is proof, though, isn’t it? Proof that there’s a conspiracy!”

 

He shrugged. “I’m afraid it’s not very definitive. We need something more concrete.”

 

Bakugou grumbled. “What about the photo?” he stopped him right next to it, pointing right at the spot where Kirishima had been standing. “He was standing right next to me, and they erased him from it. Can’t we say anything about that?”

 

Yamada squinted. “Hey, what’s that?” he pointed.

 

“Huh?”

 

“There. On your shoulder.” He poked at the spot on the photograph. On Bakugou’s right shoulder was, clear as day, a hand. It was too different a complexion from Ashido’s, who had been standing on Bakugou’s right side that day- and the fingers indicated it was a right hand- from Kirishima’s right arm, no doubt, wrapped around Bakugou from his left. Whoever had edited him out must’ve missed it.

 

“It’s his hand…”

 

“Curiouser and curiouser.” Yamada stood up straight.

 

“Finally, someone believes me!” Bakugou threw his hands out. “Come on, we gotta go confront ‘em.”

 

“W-Wait.” Yamada stopped him by his shoulder. “I’ll go. You already said they didn’t believe you, so maybe they’ll listen to an adult. Be patient, though- I promise you and I will get to the bottom of this.”

 

Bakugou huffed. He did have a point. Trying to piece all of it together was exasperating to him, but knowing someone actually was willing to help him was reassuring nonetheless.

 

“Okay. Thank you.”

 

* * *

 

“Toshinori’s definitely the boy from the recordings! He said the exact same things as he did!” On the group’s walk back to the house, Midoriya had brought Todoroki and Iida up to speed on their visit to the elderly man.

 

“And what about the murder?” Todoroki asked.

 

“Well, we kinda lost him by then. He did say something about a ‘man who kills.’ Something about tipping scales, and… staying forever?”

 

“I can’t make any sense of that,” Iida said. “What do you think he means, though? It’s not like we can just ask anybody.”

 

Uraraka stepped up ahead. “You know, Iida’s got a point. Tsuyu and I have been thinking about it, actually- the five of us seem to be the only people who know about this whole thing.”

 

“We’re like a club,” Tsuyu agreed.

 

“A club?” Midoriya repeated.

 

“Exactly! I had the idea when you told Iida to ‘join the club’- That’s what we are! A club, a gang, a posse, whatever you wanna call it. I think we should make it official.” Uraraka put her right hand over her right eye. “Sibuna!” she declared.

 

“Sibuna?” the boys all questioned.

 

“Sibuna,” she said again. “It’s ‘Anubis’ spelled backwards! You know, because-” she gestured to the house as they approached. “-it’s _Anubis_ House, and all.”

 

“Ah, I see. That _is_ quite clever, Uraraka!” Iida affirmed.

 

“So then,” Todoroki added. “Does this mean we all make an oath to keep this thing between us? That we don’t tell anyone, at all?”

 

Tsuyu nodded. “Absolutely.”

 

Todoroki smiled. “Alright, I guess I’m in.”

 

“Count me in as well!” Iida declared. “Just… promise not to go overboard or anything, alright? Nothing absurd, like pricking our fingers or something.”

 

Midoriya laughed. “Yeah, as long as there’s none of that, I’ll join in too!”

 

Uraraka cheered with her fist. “Then it’s settled! We’ll make it official- this evening! And I know just the place.”

 

* * *

 

Mr. Yamada had caught Nezu at his office in the nick of time. Knowing full well that Bakugou had been following him around all afternoon like a lost duckling, and was likely standing right outside the door, he tried to keep his cool.

 

“Ah, Hizashi. Please, take a seat. You wanted to see me about something? You said it was important.”

 

“Yes, yes it is.” he sat down, rifling through his messenger bag. “I spoke to Nemuri earlier today about Katsuki Bakugou.”

 

“Ah, yes.”

 

“She almost managed to convince me that he was, uh- a little over imaginative, shall we put it?”

 

Nezu chuckled. “Indeed. The boy is quite passionate about the things he does. Even if it gives him the tendency to be a little… carried away, often times.”

 

“Yeah… well, you see, I say she _almost_ convinced me. But not quite. Now, erm, with all due respect, Nezu,” Yamada said as he pulled some things out of his bag. Item one was the cellphone Bakugou had claimed, and the next was the school photograph- still in its frame. “What’s going on? Where _is_ Eijirou Kirishima?”

 

Nezu leaned back in his chair. He had him cornered. It was only after moments of staring between both objects that he spoke again.

 

“I’m afraid it’s better you don’t know.”

 

“Nezu,” Yamada said again, lowering the tone of his voice as he leaned forward. “ _I’m_ afraid we may be past that.”

 

“I see.” he closed his eyes. “You’ll need to speak to Aizawa.”

 

“Aizawa?” he asked. Nezu nodded his head, but at the same time it appeared to shake.

 

* * *

 

Bakugou had conveniently been at the entrance hall of Anubis House when Mr. Yamada arrived.

 

“How’d things go with Nuzzle?” he asked. “You get any answers?” Before Yamada could reply, a voice from above startled both of them.

 

“Mr. Yamada,” Aizawa said. At the top of the balcony the caretaker stood, arms folded over its railing. “I’ve been expecting you,” he said, as he moved to go down the stairs.

 

“Not yet,” Yamada whispered to Bakugou. “But I’m going to get some now.” He cleared his throat. “So then, Aizawa, shall we go to your office?”

 

“Actually,” he said, drawing his keys from his pocket. “I thought we could discuss this in a more private area.” Behind him, he turned, and unlocked a door- a door Bakugou recognized the front of well, but not what was behind. It creaked open to reveal a set of stairs- leading down into the house’s cellar. Aizawa waved for Yamada to follow, who went on ahead in front of him. Bakugou, however, stayed rigid in his stance, not breaking eye contact with Aizawa until he closed the door in his face.

 

* * *

 

The evening sunset had brought with it a steady stream of clouds, scattered across the sky in an array of pink and orange. The beautiful ambience had greatly added to the mood of the trek through the woods that Uraraka and Tsuyu had led the others on.

 

“How much further is this spot, again?” Iida asked, swatting a branch away from his face.

“It’s just over… there!” Uraraka pointed, towards a small clearing. In the center of it, a large and distinguished willow tree stood towering above the rest of the forest. Its pendulous leaves were parted like a great green curtain for them, leading them underneath the tree’s canopy.

 

“It’s… beautiful.” Todoroki stood in awe.

 

“Woah!” Midoriya exclaimed.

 

“Ochako and I found this tree a couple months ago,” Tsuyu explained. “Sometimes, we just like to come here to hang out after school. It’s a really relaxing spot.”

 

“And I thought, what better place than our _secret_ place for our secret club?” Uraraka led them over to the base of the trunk. They all sat down in the grass together in a circle.

 

“So then… what do we do?” Midoriya asked. Tsuyu, who sat to his left, held out her hand for him to hold. Uraraka was already holding her other one. “Ah.” Reluctantly, he took it, joining in with Todoroki and Iida.

 

“We are the Sibuna club!” Uraraka declared. “To Anubis House, we pledge ourselves to your secrets and your quest.” she broke her hands away from the ring and raised her right hand, with her left over her heart. “I, Ochako Uraraka, being of sound mind, promise to protect the secrets of Anubis House, and stand by my fellow club members.” She turned to her right. “Your turn, Tsu.”

 

“I, Tsuyu Asui, being of sound mind, and promise to protect the secrets of Anubis House, and stand by my fellow club members.” she hummed. “Okay, who’s next?”

 

Iida cleared his throat, before giving his own proclamation in his enthusiastic voice. “I, Tenya Iida, being of sound mind- er, well, semi-sound mind- promise to protect the secrets of Anubis House, and stand by my fellow club members!”

 

Todoroki picked up right away. “I, Shouto Todoroki, being of sound mind, promise to protect the secrets of Anubis House, and stand by my fellow club members.” His gaze followed everyone else’s, onto the one person left to make his pledge. Midoriya had to duck his face away in timidity.

 

“Aw, come on Midoriya!” Tsuyu said, trying to ease him in.

 

“Best for last,” Todoroki said.

 

“Mi-do-ri-ya! Mi-do-ri-ya!” Uraraka cheered, earning sync from from the others as well.

 

“Okay, okay!” Midoriya said, laughing in both embarrassment and excitement. “I, Izuku Midoriya, being of sound mind, promise to protect the secrets of Anubis House, and stand by my fellow club members.”

 

Everyone’s hands still raised, Uraraka led them on to the closing. “These are our sacred vows. Let no man or woman tear them asunder!” Just as she’d presented earlier, she put her raised right hand over her right eye. “Sibuna!” she said.

 

“Sibuna!” one by one, the rest of them followed suit with her, finalizing their pledge.

 

In the distance, a light thunder rumbled amongst the still gathering clouds. Iida spoke up. “Hm, that doesn’t sound good. We should be going.” Everyone else agreed. Making haste, they all filed their way out from under the tree. Scrambling with his backpack, Midoriya tripped in the rush.

 

“Woah!” his bag fell from his shoulders to the ground. Most of the contents merely shifted slightly through the mouth of the zipper, but one in particular rolled its way to the feet of those ahead of him.

 

“Oh!” Iida picked up the golden puzzle box.

 

“Wow, it’s even stranger up close,” Tsuyu said. It was the first time she and Uraraka had seen it outside Iida’s photo.

 

Midoriya regained his balance, taking the hexagonal object from Iida. “Any luck with it, Todoroki?” he asked, twisting the parts around.

 

“No, not at all. We’ve tried every possible combination-”

 

 _Clink._ The box separated right in Midoriya’s hands. The three hexagons fell away from the dome of the box, which was attached to a large screw- which had to be what held it together.

 

“-except that one, I guess,” Todoroki finished. Midoriya couldn’t help laughing at the immediate irony.

 

“Wait, what’s that?” Iida asked, pointing at one of the hexagonal pieces.

 

“Hm?” Midoriya lifted the pieces closer to his face. On the inside of one of the hexagons was a faint line of writing. He could see some on the other two, as well. Exchanging some looks with each other, they lined them up- the text spelling out a complete sentence. He read it off.

 

_“When daytime ends at midday, through tears of glass the eye shall see.”_

 

He stood mesmerized. “What does that mean?”

 

* * *

 

It was over an hour before Yamada and Aizawa left the cellar. Bakugou had been waiting on the stairs the entire time. When they had, Yamada stepped quickly straight to the front door to leave, his head hung low.

 

“Well?” Bakugou called behind him. “Mr. Yamada? What’d he say?” Yamada ignored him completely.

 

“Quite the troublemaker, aren’t you, Bakugou?” Aizawa said as he locked the cellar door once again.

 

Bakugou was speechless. He could only stare at Aizawa in a mixture of anger, confusion, and- though he’d never willingly admit it- fear. Then he scrambled out the door himself.

 

Returning to the same spot he’d chosen to hide earlier that day, he leaned against the dumpster, trying hard to ignore the shaking in his hands. Soon it moved to his legs, and then his chest. He couldn’t ignore it when it reached his head.

 

 _This was all too fucking frustrating. He had no idea what to do._ His boyfriend was missing, and everyone else seemed to be forcing any chance of finding him away with spite to spare. He had no idea how it could get worse.

 

“Bakugou?” a voice called.

 

_Fuck. he had to think that._

 

Sure enough, right around the corner, was the creeping man with the blue hair yet again.

 

“Don’t come any closer! I’ll fucking kick your ass!” He said that, but in reality he was steadily backing up.

 

“Hey,” The man raised both his hands. “Your friend, he’s gone missing, correct? Eijirou Kirishima?”

 

Bakugou’s pounding heart sank. “How do you know that?”

 

He moved one of his hands over his chest. “I’m a private investigator. If you can get me a picture of him, I can help you find him.”

 

“How?” his tone was still vaguely threatening, but easier.

 

“I’m sure that he is very much alive- but I think he may be in great danger. I know we can find him.” he reached into his coat pocket, and drew out a card. When Bakugou backed up as he tried to hand it to him, he took the hint and gently laid it on the ground, and backed up. “It’s my phone number. If you want to help Kirishima, I highly recommend you call me.”

 

Slowly, Bakugou picked up the card. All that was written on it was the phone number- nothing else. “Can I at least get your name, or something?”

 

His cracked lips formed into a smile. “Of course. My name is Tomura Shigaraki.”

 


	8. Rise and Shine

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Hi all! Sorry for the late chapter, school's been kicking my ass lately
> 
> Now I know how Bakugou's felt these last few chapters

  
  
“When daytime ends at midday, through tears of glass the eye shall see..?” Midoriya repeated the riddle out loud as he paced about the kitchen. The newly formed club of the old willow had been stumped on the clue all weekend. Even now, as he attended to his assigned chore of cooking sunday morning breakfast with Uraraka and Iida. “I still don’t get it…”

  
  
“I wish we had a map, or something,” Uraraka said, as she and Iida set the table. “Isn’t there usually some kind of map in a buried treasure mystery?”

  
  
“I’m afraid this isn’t a pirate movie, Uraraka,” Iida replied.

  
  
“Yeah, I know. It’s just that the puzzle box seemed kind of… extra, don't you think? I mean, all that for just one clue..”

  
  
“She does have a point.” Midoriya slipped on a pair of oven mitts, and reached for the oven. “There’s got to be more to it than that.”

  
  
“Ah, Midoriya,” Iida interrupted. “Don’t bother with that oven, use the other one.” Midoriya hadn’t paid much attention to it, but there _were_ two ovens in the kitchen. One was newer, more sleek and steel, and looked almost brand new. The other was a cast iron oven, half the size of the other but still taking up much of the space on the kitchen wall. He had tried to use the latter before Iida redirected him.

  
  
“Oh yeah,” Uraraka added. “That one’s been jammed shut forever. Aizawa tried to get it open, but it’s stuck too much. It might as well have been built shut.”

  
  
“Oh, thanks.” Midoriya situated the tray of food in the other, working oven. “Anyway, like I was saying, the clue…” he rubbed his chin. “‘When daytime ends’... an apocalypse?” he suggested.

  
  
“No, that’s the end of the world,” Iida countered. “Not the end of the day.”

  
  
“But where does the sun go down at midday?” Uraraka said.

 

* * *

  
  
As one group debated on one topic, so did another in just the next room. While waiting for breakfast, Tsuyu and Todoroki had hit the books, also hoping to find a lead on their clue. Meanwhile, Bakugou was huddled up at the table with the remaining three residents.

  
  
“So yeah, I guess that means he’s not a ghost, or some shit like that. He’s definitely real.”

  
  
“Yeah, a real creep!” Ashido huffed. “How’d he even know your name? Or better yet, about Kiri?”

  
  
“Oh, he’s obviously still creepy,” Bakugou replied. “But he’s a creep that’s a private investigator- _and_ the only one besides us who seems to give a fucking shit about him.” He pushed his fists onto the tabletop. “You all know I’m gonna do whatever the fuck it takes to find him, yeah?”

  
“Kinda goes without saying,” Sero said. Bakugou glared at him. “ _Buuut_ we’d do the same, of course!”

  
  
“So what about Yamada?” Kaminari asked.

  
  
Bakugou groaned. “I don’t even fucking know. He was onto something a couple days ago, but Aizawa dragged him in and then sent him running with his tail between his legs.”

  
  
“What, you think the stuffed cat scared him off?”

  
  
“Nah, couldn’t have. They weren’t even-” Bakugou processed his own words as he said them. “...up there.” he stared out into the hallway- It just so happened Aizawa was locking the cellar door behind him after leaving it.

  
  
He practically lived in his upstairs office, otherwise. The words “he’s in his office” were like second nature to the residents of the house, when a staff member or other visitor should ask for him.

  
  
So what was so special about the old cellar, all of a sudden?

 

* * *

  
  
With no school to get to after breakfast, everyone was left to their own devices. They were still grounded, though, and the Sibunas had already pushed their luck by sneaking out anyway to visit Toshinori two days before. They thought this to be the ample opportunity to explore the house for better insight on their clue.

  
  
“Alright, so midday is at twelve o’clock- noon, to be exact,” Iida said, as he glanced at his wrist watch. “It’s almost eleven forty-five now. Do you think we’ll find anything, Midoriya?”

  
  
He was muttering to himself on the couch. “When daytime ends…midday...tears of glass..?”

  
  
“Hey,” Todoroki placed his hand on his shoulder. He stopped.

  
  
“O-Oh, what’s up?”

  
  
“We need to focus. Let’s work together, yeah?”

  
  
“Got it.” Midoriya blushed, averting his eyes. Tsuyu stifled her laughter.

  
  
“Uh, anyway! Noon,” Uraraka continued for Iida. “Unless it’s some cryptic reference, we all agree that’s what we’ll go with for now, right?”

  
  
“R-Right.” Midoriya twiddled his thumbs. “So, ‘When daytime ends.’ Where are we at on that?”

  
  
“We had a few theories,” Tsu chimed in. “I thought it might be talking about a solar eclipse. When the sun gets blocked out by the moon, and it gets all dark, maybe that’s how daytime ‘ends’ during the day.”

  
  
“I did a bit of research too.” Todoroki flipped through a large book. “I couldn’t get anything out of tears of glass, but, daytime- the sun. I figured maybe we’re looking for some kind of sundial. The ancient egyptians had a bit of a thing for them.”

 

  
“But what would the Yagis need a sundial for?” Uraraka asked. “It’s not like clocks weren’t a thing in their time.”

  
  
Todoroki shrugged. “Yeah, it’s not the most sound theory, but anything could be useful to know. Either way, whoever hid these riddles seemed to know what they’re doing.”

  
  
“And as long as Aizawa’s on watch, it looks like seeing Toshinori’s out of the question for today,” Midoriya added. “Okay, then. Let’s split up and look around.”

 

* * *

  
  
Bakugou called Shigaraki right after breakfast. He’d answered almost immediately. At his request, Bakugou had found some photographs of Kirishima- printed photos, and brought them to him. He’d also insisted on meeting behind the house again.

  
  
“This boy- Eijirou Kirishima,” he said. “You two are rather close friends, yes?”

  
  
Bakugou shifted on his feet. “Yeah, we are…” he muttered.

  
  
He pocketed the pictures. “These are good photos- clear, identifiable. They’ll be a big help.”

  
  
“Right…” Bakugou said nothing else, arms folded and kicking at the dirt.

  
  
Shigaraki glared at him, scratching at his neck. “You know, you can just say that you don’t trust me.”

  
  
Bakugou rolled his eyes. “Sure, because after every _other_ adult in this damn school goes rogue, the shady guy who creeps in the woods is suddenly a saint.”

  
  
“I applaud your healthy skepticism. We do have to be very careful who we can trust."

  
  
“I’m with you on that,” he scoffed. “The new teacher, he was on my side, and he got so close to the truth before they got to him. Now he won’t even talk to me.”

  
  
Shigaraki exhaled through his nose. “He _has_ gotten to him… Bakugou, I fear he’s been converted.”

  
  
“Converted?”

  
  
“Yes, converted into one of them- and I’m very worried about what that might mean for Kirishima’s safety.”

 

Now he had his attention. “Listen, if I’m gonna trust you, you gotta be fucking honest with me. About _everything_.”

  
  
He hummed. “Well, you should know that my real name is Tenko Shimura. But if you were wise, you wouldn’t repeat that to anybody out loud- not even myself. It could put Kirishima’s life in serious danger. Do you understand?”

  
  
He nodded. “Got it.”

  
  
“Good.” Out of his other pocket, he fished out his own set of photographs. “I need you to have a look at these. Do you recognize anything out of these at all?”

  
  
Bakugou quirked his eyebrow at the greyscale photos. They all depicted stone slabs with weird markings on them. He traced his eyes along the lines, gradually growing more dumbfounded the more he looked at them.

  
  
“Er, this thing looks kinda familiar.” he tapped his finger on one of the symbols- one that, to him, looked a bit like a sideways eye. “But what the fuck does it have to do with Kirishima?”

  
  
“That one there, that is the eye of Horus,” Shigaraki said as he shuffled the films back together. “And it may give us some clues as to solving Kirishima’s disappearance.”

 

* * *

  
  
The search had led them all across the house, all but overturning the foundation. Within ten minutes, the five of them had all shifted between indoors and outdoors multiple times. Having only five minutes left before their supposed noon deadline, Uraraka tried to make light conversation as she searched with Midoriya and Todoroki.

  
  
“So what do you think it is, anyway?” she asked.

  
  
“Hmm?” Midoriya looked up from the marble foyer floor.

  
  
“The treasure, I mean. I know you said Toshinori didn’t say, but, aren’t you a little curious?”

  
  
“Yeah, I guess. What kind of buried treasure takes building a whole house to hide, though?”

  
  
“Huh, that’s a good point too.”

  
  
As he did often, he started to mutter. “Maybe it’s something big… or something of a big quantity, maybe?”

  
  
“What if…” Todoroki said, “It’s not that it’s something big, but something valuable?”

  
  
Midoriya blinked. “Valuable?”

  
  
“Well, yeah,” Uraraka said with thinly veiled but well-meaning sarcasm. “That’s sort of in the definition of treasure.”

  
  
“No, seriously. Think about it.” Todoroki pulled out a piece of the opened puzzle box. “If the Yagis could take some ancient artifact of gold just to write a riddle on it, what’s the _real_ treasure like?”

  
  
“Oh…” Midoriya rubbed the back of his neck. “That _is_ a lot to think about.”

  
  
While the other two looked over his shoulder, Todoroki turned the puzzle piece around in his hands, bright sunlight from the window reflecting across the pure gold.

  
  
“Ah!” Uraraka winced slightly as the light glare grazed across her eyes. “It’s already bright enough in here as it is. Can someone turn down the sun or something?” she remarked wryly.

  
  
Despite that, though, the sun seemed to obey. The light in the whole room suddenly began to tone down from its bright yellowish-white to a deep orange.

  
  
“Er… thank you?” Uraraka said, astonished.

 

“Uh, that wasn't us...” Midoriya said.

 

Todoroki gasped, nudging his shoulder. “Hey, look at that.” he pointed to the window above the stairs.

 

Like many of the period pieces that decorated the house, the tall windows along the stairway were stained glass. They were a golden yellow color for the most part- but the color faded into orange more towards the top, and eventually even red at the edges. The sun shone through the deeply colored orange, creating the warm ambience.

 

“Woah, those windows look beautiful,” Midoriya said in awe.

 

“Yeah,” Uraraka said after she stopped rubbing her eye. “It almost looks like-” she trailed off, and gasped, turning to them. “-like a sunset!”

 

Midoriya and Todoroki also looked up, exchanging looks with each other and then with her.

 

“When daytime ends...” she started.

 

 _Ding, dong_ . She was interrupted by the bell of the grandfather clock.

 

“-at midday!” they all said at the same time.

 

Midoriya high fived her. “Uraraka, you’re a genius!”

 

* * *

  
  
No later than 12:05 had the club already regrouped in the living room.

 

“That’s so very clever!” Iida gestured his rigid hands wildly. “The Yagis angled their very house to align with the sun! It’s ingenious!”

 

“How have we never noticed that before?” Tsuyu asked aloud.

 

“I guess it only happens at noon, right?” Todoroki said. “Normally, we’d be in class by then, or doing something else on the weekends. It’s like it happens when people are least to expect it.”

 

“So, it looks like we have one half of the riddle solved.” Midoriya said. “‘When daytime ends at midday’- the noon sun shines through the stained glass.”

 

“And when that happens,” Uraraka continued, “‘Through tears of glass the eye shall see’!” she spoke in a tone that was made to mimic an adult man’s voice, which Midoriya and Tsuyu giggled at. “So then, what’s the second half mean?” she said in her own voice.

 

“Tears of glass…” Midoriya muttered while tapping his chin. “Maybe that’s also about the window? Glass shards could kind of represent tears, right?”

 

“I guess,” Tsuyu replied, “but, how is breaking the window at noon any different from breaking it any other time?”

  
  
“It isn’t,” Iida said, bluntly. “I see no reason that breaking the window at all would benefit us. Unless you want to antagonize Aizawa even more, that is.”

  
  
“Y-Yeah, good point.” Midoriya leaned back in his seat.

  
  
Todoroki spoke up. “I don’t know about the tears of glass, but,” he leaned forward, opposite to Midoriya. “We’re all in agreement about ‘the eye’, right?”

  
  
“Huh?”

  
  
“Oooh, yeah, I get it.” Uraraka pointed at her collarbone, while looking at Midoriya.

  
  
“Oh!” He perked up. “You think it’s the eye of Horus?” he said, taking the pendant from his shirt.

  
  
“I’d say it’s our best bet. It’s lead us this far.” Todoroki clicked the locket open, looking at the small photo of the boy.

  
  
Tsuyu peered over Midoriya’s shoulder. “Hey, that kid looks kinda like you, Midoriya.”

  
  
“W-Why does everyone keep thinking that?” He flipped the locket shut. “That boy’s got to be Toshinori, right? He’s the one who gave it to me.”

  
  
“Perhaps,” Iida said. “How does it work, anyway?”

  
  
Midoriya looked up. “Work?”

  
  
“Yes, how does the locket work?” Iida pointed at it with his whole hand. “You said it opened a secret door in the attic. Do you know how that happened?”

  
  
“Hm, no, I’ve never thought about it like that.” He started his trademark muttering again. “Maybe it’s some kind of magnet mechanism... or- or a series of buttons the locket is made to fit...”

  
  
“What if,” Tsuyu interrupted. “What if it’s... magic?”

  
  
Midoriya stopped. “M-Magic?” he asked.

  
  
“Magic?” the other three repeated.

  
  
Despite the rest of them expressing clear shock at her assumption, Tsu remained casual as she was, and continued. “I know it sounds kinda far out, but, why not? Maybe the treasure is some kind of magical item, too, and that’s why it was hidden so elaborately.”

  
  
“T-That’s…” Iida stuttered. “Magic…? That can’t be it, can it? I suppose I could believe in a buried treasure, but magic can’t be real, can it?”

  
  
Tsu shrugged. “Just a suggestion. I like to say what’s on my mind. I mean, this house is so ancient, who knows?” she exaggerated.

  
  
“Hey… what do you guys think the house was like back then?” Midoriya blurted out.

  
  
Uraraka hummed. “Probably the same as it is now, honestly…”

  
  
“You know,” Iida said, standing up, “We should have some old photo albums around here somewhere. I remember looking through them for a history project.” he ran a finger across the bookshelves by the wall. “I know the hallway was much grander than it is now. Here!” He pulled out one book, and flipped through several pages.

  
  
“Wow!” Midoriya gawked at the array of photographs. He saw some of almost every room in the house, including the very living room they were in, nearly identical to the real one- with the exception of some of their own modern additions like the TV. The ones of the main hall were even more alike- only one difference stood out.

  
  
“I think we still have that chandelier in a cupboard somewhere,” Iida pointed out. The photos depicted a large, elegant chandelier made up of dozens of hanging crystals. It may not have had light bulbs, but it sure put the old battery powered one in the present hall to shame.

  
  
“Iida, that’s it!” Midoriya almost jumped up and down.

 

“What’s it?”

  
Midoriya turned the photograph of the chandelier for everyone to see. “I think we just found our tears of glass!”

 

* * *

  
  
On the laundry row of the chart for the day was Ashido, Kaminari, and Sero- a combination of three that naturally spelled trouble in any situation. Ashido had a history of flooding the laundry room, Kaminari had once dyed a load of whites so pink that it could give her envy, and Sero had inconspicuously added more duct tape to the dryer drum than there was drum. And yet, the three of them balanced each other out very well. Probably moreso, if only the mood had been better for them.

  
  
“I’m just… worried about him,” Sero said while hauled the hamper into the laundry room. “You know how he gets.”

  
  
Ashido sighed. “Yeah, but in his defense, his man _is_ kinda awol.”

  
  
“I know, I know. It’s just- what is he really getting himself into, here? Crazy-ass conspiracies and weirdos in the woods? I don’t like the thought of it.”

  
  
“I’d do the same, you know!” she hurled a balled up pair of Kaminari’s boxers at him (clean, thankfully) to express her annoyance. She continued speaking even after Sero shrieked himself into a shade of scarlet. “I wanna know what’s going on just as much as he does, even if Bakugou _is_ getting a little...” she trailed off, instead opting to finish her statement by whistling and pointing her finger at her temple while twirling it in a circle.

  
  
Sero tossed the garment into another basket- hastily, ridding his hand of it fast as if it were on fire. “Y-Yeah, I-I agree!” he cleared his throat. “But I just think we should be there for him, you know? If we can’t stop him from throwing himself into this mess, then shouldn’t we at least be there by his side?”

  
  
“Word, dude,” Kaminari said, entering the room with another hamper’s worth of dirty clothes.

  
  
Ashido tossed another pair of Kaminari’s over her shoulder, consequently hitting Sero square in the face, and making their owner burst out laughing. “S-Stop that!” Sero merely grumbled as he brushed it off, now blushing even darker- as if the pair of shorts had physically imprinted the color on him.

  
  
Kaminari swiped the pair, still snickering, before setting off again with the empty hamper. Sero’s face went on an entire journey across embarrassment and a smile as he ducked his head and turned back to fold clothes.

  
  
“Ha!” she pointed at him, smirking.

  
  
“W-What?” he stuttered out. Ashido said nothing, she just continued to stare at him with her grin widening, just the same as Sero’s eyes did. “M-Mina?”

  
  
Slowly, she leaned in toward him. “You like him!” she whispered, drawing out the vowels.

  
  
_“MINA!”_

 

* * *

  
  
The cupboard under the stairs was like a miniature version of the attic- dark, cobwebbed, and full of everything old-timey. At least it opened right back into the hallway.

  
  
The crystal chandelier was in a cardboard box, not far from the door. Within a matter of minutes, Iida had unearthed it while Todoroki brought out a stepladder from the space as well. While Uraraka and Tsuyu boxed up the other one, Midoriya stood on the ladder, which Todoroki held steady, to hang it while Iida directed him from the balcony.

  
  
“On your left, Midoriya!” Iida said, chopping at the air yet again.

  
  
“Almost… there..!” Midoriya was straining with it, but still reached the ceiling well enough. With patience, he was soon able to attach it onto its hook. “Got it!” he huffed, finally lowering his strained arms.

  
  
“Whoo!” Uraraka cheered casually, while Tsuyu clapped.

  
  
“Good job, Midoriya!” Iida said. “Now, be careful on your way-”

  
  
As Midoriya tried to ease himself down the ladder, he stumbled backwards from the very top step with nothing to hold on to.

  
  
“W-Woah!” Even with Todoroki holding the ladder, his clumsiness got the better of him as he ungracefully plummeted backwards to the ground- but not before colliding right into Todoroki.

  
  
“Midoriya!”

 

“Agh!”

  
  
“Ah! I’m so sorry!” he said, genuinely concerned but trying to hide laughter at the same time. “Are you okay?”

  
  
“Yeah! Yeah, I’m fine,” Todoroki said, sitting up. “I feel like I should be asking you that,” he said with a real chuckle.

  
  
He rubbed his elbow. “I-I’m fine too,” Midoriya said, standing up and offering his hand to Todoroki to take and help him up too.

  
  
“Neither of you are hurt?” Iida said, calmer, while he trotted down the stairs.

  
  
The two darted their eyes between each other and their joined hands, and quickly let go.

  
  
“Uh- nope!”

  
  
“Not at all!” both laughed, awkwardly.

  
  
“That’s good,” Uraraka said, walking over. “That was a scary looking fall.”

  
  
Midoriya shrugged. “My bad.”

  
  
“What’s all the noise down there?” came from above them. On the balcony, Aizawa stood, his hands gripping the railing as he stared down at them.

  
  
“M-Mr. Aizawa!”

  
  
He opened his mouth to scold them again, but stopped in his tracks, staring straight ahead. He moved to the stairs.

  
  
“Why have you refitted the old chandelier?” he said, quieter, but still directed at the group, staring at Midoriya in particular.

  
  
“Um- uh, well you see, we-”

  
  
“It's about heritage!” Todoroki jumped in. “This is a part of the house’s history, and we respect that.”

  
  
“Y-Yeah.”

  
  
“I don’t like you all snooping around like this,” Aizawa said, unmoved. “You’d be well not to poke your noses where they don’t belong.”

  
  
“I’m sorry,” Midoriya said, reaching for the ladder. “We’ll take it down-”

  
  
“No, leave it up there.”

  
  
“Huh? B-But you just said-”  
  
“I said nothing of the sort, and it’s already up there now.” He grabbed the ladder, closing it himself and shooing the five of them away. “Leave it.”

 

* * *

  
  
Bakugou stormed straight up to Yamada’s desk after class the next day.

  
  
“Mr. Yamada? What did Aizawa say to you?” the bubbly personality the teacher had usually exhibited in class was absent that day. Bakugou picked up on it.

  
  
“Erm, there’s no big mystery, I’m afraid. Sorry, Bakugou.”

  
  
He growled. “But the photo-!”

  
  
“It’s nothing. Kirishima’s gone home, like they said. I’m sorry I got you mixed up with it.”

  
  
Bakugou yanked his bag away from his desk, and stomped out without another word, nearly running straight into a figure as he opened the door.

  
  
“Watch where you’re fucking standing!” he yelled at Midoriya, who was right outside it with Todoroki. He watched as he scrambled and shoved some weird looking necklace down his shirt. _Since when the fuck did he get into jewelry? Shitty nerd._ Who would even wear something that looked like…

  
  
_...an eyeball?_

  
  
“S-Sorry Kacchan!” he said, walking away. Bakugou simply scoffed, turning the opposite direction while pulling out his phone and dialing.

  
  
“Hello?” came from the other line.

  
  
“Hey, Shigaraki? This is Bakugou, we need to talk. I think I’ve found that ‘eye of Horus’.”

 

* * *

  
  
“So when the noon sun shines through the window,” Todoroki said, “It must be that the light is supposed to hit the chandelier. So then what happens?”

  
  
“I don’t know, but-” Midoriya patted his chest. “-The riddle talked about an eye, right? I think I should be there to find out.”

  
  
“You sure you don’t want me to come with you?”

  
  
“No, we can’t both risk skipping. I’ll be back as soon as I can, okay?”

  
  
Todoroki smiled. “Alright, good luck.” he covered his right eye with his right hand, the same as Uraraka had done, now recognized as their club’s salute. “Sibuna.”

  
  
“Sibuna!” Midoriya saluted back, and took off.

 

* * *

  
  
He ran as fast as he could, watching as the sun rose above the trees to its peak. He’d arrived to the empty house just in time- the room was turning orange again.

  
  
Slowly, but surely, the sun was moving past the window, just like the day before.

  
  
_When daytime ends at midday..._

  
  
As it gradually moved into the totality of the orange stained glass, the chandelier had reacted too. the sun refracted through the crystalline array, presenting a spectacular display of light that slowly illuminated the room on all sides. Instinctively, Midoriya pulled out the eye of Horus.

  
  
_...through tears of glass…_

  
  
Suddenly, the beams of light seemed to twist together, all pointing in one direction. they all landed on a single panel of the wall. The shadows formed by the light and the shape of the crystals seemed to form a familiar shape.

  
  
_...the eye shall see._

  
  
As he joined the eye to it, the piece of wall shifted, like a sliding door.

  
  
_There!_ In the dark space, he saw an object of some sort. He grabbed it from the wall just before the panel slid back shut, and the light began to dim.

  
  
It was thin object, and about half as long as his forearm, and covered in hieroglyphics. A blue crystalline sphere was affixed on one end. He thought the object’s shape vaguely resembled a tall hourglass, but with a much wider neck.

  
  
As the room completely returned to normal, the new piece glinted a brilliant gold in the pure sunlight.

 


	9. The Frame and the Flame

“What did it look like when the sun shone through the window?” Todoroki asked.

 

“It was so beautiful! And amazing!” Midoriya was ecstatic, waving around the golden rod around as he recounted the radiant display of the chandelier’s light to the club.

 

“So what is it, anyway?” Tsuyu tapped her chin. “It looks just like the puzzle box.”

 

“I don’t know, exactly.” He grabbed it with both hands, wringing them both back and forth. “It’s not made of moving pieces, like the first one.”

 

“What about that bit, there?” Uraraka pointed at the large blue jewel.

 

“I tried that, too,” he said. “It  _ almost  _ feels like it pulls off, but..!” he strained for a moment in trying to twist it off.

 

“Here, let me try!” Iida said, holding out his hand. He was easily the biggest- and likely strongest out of the five of them. So naturally, Midoriya figured he could do it, right?

 

Iida took the rod, and pulled on either end hard. It didn’t seem very easy for him either, the effort he was giving was clear- but soon enough, the blue stone seperated with a good  _ POP!  _ Just as it did, something small from inside the rod fell to the floor.

 

“Wow!”

 

“Good job, Iida!”

 

Todoroki bent to the floor and picked it up. “Is this… papyrus?”

 

“A hidden note!” Midoriya said. “What’s it say?” Todoroki unfurled the ancient scrap of paper, and read its contents out loud.

 

_ “The khet’s inferno is the place to find _

_ and there in the flames, you must look behind.” _

 

He looked up and around, hoping to elicit some kind of response to the new clue. When nobody said anything, he shrugged. “Even I have no idea.”

 

* * *

 

“Yeah, thanks Shigaraki. I’ll try my best.” Bakugou hung his phone up.

 

“How do you know you can trust this guy?” Kaminari asked as they walked up the stairs.

 

“He’s helping me find Kiri, okay? Besides, who else  _ can  _ I trust?” He picked up his pace, leaving Kaminari behind him. He ducked past the hallway door just in time to see Midoriya and Todoroki walk out of their bedroom, headed to the bathroom across the hall for their nightly routines.

 

_ Now was his chance. _

 

Ever so gently, he pushed open the door to their bedroom, tiptoeing over to Midoriya’s bed. His backpack lay strewn across it, its scattered contents hardly having any need to be rifled through. It wasn’t there. 

 

Next, he tried his desk. He threw open every drawer, all but dumping them out, still finding nothing.  _ Where the fuck was he hiding it? _

 

His uniform, maybe? The grey blazer was hanging from a coat hanger near the baseboard of his bed. Bakugou sifted through the pockets, and his fingers closed around the cold, grainy texture of a chain.  _ Jackpot. _

 

“Yes!” he whispered, as he pulled out the necklace. It looked even weirder up close- the same, creepy looking eye of Horus. His thumb ran over a hinge on the side of the eye.  _ So it was a locket?  _ He flicked it open, staring at the tiny photograph.  _ The fuck?  _ He had no clue who it was, but he thought it was rather weird that he was just carrying around a photo of some guy who happened to look like him. 

 

“What are you doing in here?” Todoroki said behind him, suddenly. Bakugou jumped, turning around.

 

“W-What are  _ you  _ doing in here?” he said back.

 

“It’s my room, Bakugou. I just came to get my toothbrush. Why are you snooping through Midoriya’s stuff?”

 

“I-” Bakugou’s eyes darted around the room. “I was just gonna borrow a shirt,” he lied, trying to shove his way past him.

 

Todoroki held him in place. “So am I supposed to believe that you two are suddenly such good friends again that you swap outfits?”

 

“Again?” he asked, raising his eyebrow. “L-Look, whatever, it’s not your fucking business. Now get out of my way!” he clenched his fists, one tighter than the other.

 

“What’s in your hand?”

 

“Nothing!” Bakugou shoved his way by. Todoroki grabbed at his wrist, and wrestled his fist open, dropping the locket to the floor, right into his reach.

 

“Why do you have this?” Todoroki asked, raising his voice more. “Were you trying to steal it!?”

 

“Look, you asshole,” Bakugou said through gritted teeth, looking behind him to make sure nobody heard them. “I wasn’t stealing it. There’s a  _ really  _ good reason why I need to borrow it.”

 

“Like what, a fashion emergency?” he said sarcastically. Bakugou just growled.

 

Todoroki just snatched the necklace, and headed for the door- only to jump when the door opened from the other end.

 

“O-Oh! Hey, Kacchan.” Midoriya muttered, averting his gaze.

 

“Yeah, hey- well, thanks for that, half-and-half, catch you later- or whatever.” He hurried out of the room.

 

Midoriya looked between them. “Uh- okay. You alright?”

 

Todoroki nodded, still glaring in Bakugou’s direction. “Yeah.”

 

* * *

 

“Khet… Khet..?” Tsuyu murmured to herself as she flipped through a hefty book. Ever since finding the next clue, the gang had agreed to split up again to research. She and Uraraka had partnered up in the living room.

 

“Got it!” Uraraka said. “‘Khet’ means ‘fire’, or ‘place of fire’.”

 

“Place of fire…” she snapped her fingers. “Yes!” she stood up, and walked over to the wall. “Reverse that, and what do you get?”

 

“‘Fire of place?’”

 

Tsuyu gestured to her side, presenting what was standing right next to her.

 

Uraraka gasped. “Oh, the fireplace! Tsu, you’re a genius!”

 

* * *

 

Bakugou’s bed was positioned right in front of his bedroom’s door- so naturally, he could see Midoriya peeking through the frame before he had the chance to knock.

 

“What do you want?” he asked- not particularly with malice, but a resting level of Bakugou-brand snarkiness.

 

Midoriya leaned into the room. “I… I thought we were getting along better these days.”

 

“Aren’t we?” he asked, innocently.

 

“I don’t know…” he moved his hand over his collar. “Is going through my stuff your idea of getting along?”

 

Bakugou’s eyes widened, than narrowed, with a huff from him. “Dammit, half-and-!”

 

“Don’t blame Todoroki, please. I’m sure you would’ve done the same thing if you saw somebody going through Kir-” he stopped himself. That probably would’ve poked a nerve. “I-I mean, K-Kaminari’s things, right?” 

 

Bakugou just rolled his eyes. “I wasn’t stealing it,” he muttered.

 

“Then what were you doing with it?”

 

“Where’d you even get that?”

 

Midoriya sideyed him. “I got it from a friend… b-but that’s not important! I’m asking you why you were stealing it!”

 

He glared up at him, the first time they made eye contact all conversation. “You’re really fucking secretive, you know that?”

 

“Kacchan, you’re not really one to talk here!” he pleaded. “You tried to take my locket, and I just want to know! Why?”

 

_ Ding, dong _

 

The clock tolled downstairs. “It’s ten o’clock,” Aizawa called, reciting his lights out speech.

 

Bakugou smirked, answering him with and uncharacteristic politeness in his voice. “Nighty-night, Deku.”

 

* * *

 

His phone went off as soon as he got into class.

 

“Ah, the late Mr. Bakugou. How nice of you to grace us with your presence,” Ms. Kayama said.

 

“Sorry, Ms. K,” he muttered, fumbling in his bag and trying to silence his phone.

 

She sighed. “Yes, I’m getting rather fed up with this. Yesterday it was Miss Ashido’s cell, and now yours today. You know the school rules.”

 

“It’s fine, I’ll turn the ringer off.” 

 

“No, that’s what you  _ should  _ have done, now hand it over.” she waved her open hand’s fingers, motioning for him to give. 

 

He huffed, dropping the still ringing device in her hand.

 

“Alright then, class, you all know what do,” Kayama said, handing Bakugou his copy of that day’s test. She fumbled with the phone, trying to silence the ringer. As she tried, it went off yet again- not a call this time, but a text message lit up the screen.

 

**_Tomura Shigaraki_ **

_ Meet me in the usual place. Don’t be followed. TS _

 

She squinted at the screen. “T...S..?”

 

* * *

 

The house was clear as always around lunch that next day.

 

“Nobody, not one body,” Tsu said, after checking to be sure the coast was clear.

 

“Alright, let’s go.” Uraraka led the rest of the club into the living room, up to the fireplace. Iida moved the fireplace cover away, while Midoriya and Todoroki got down to their knees, both crawling up to the small, cold space. It was only natural that they both bumped their heads on each other.

 

“Oh! I’m sorry,” Todoroki said, scooting back, and laughing a little.

 

“It’s okay,” Midoriya said, also chuckling. “Probably just a mild concussion,” he joked. Todoroki laughed again, smiling. He hadn’t realized he was still looking Midoriya right in his eyes. He was doing the same, though.

 

Tsuyu leaned over them, also smirking a little. “‘Hey, Romeos, lets focus,” she said.

 

“H-Huh?”

 

“O-Oh, right. Moving swiftly on.” Todoroki moved back into the fireplace, Midoriya easing himself past as well. After minutes of sifting through ash and soot, the two came up with-

 

“Nothing,” Midoriya said.

 

“No?” Tsu said. “Darn, I was so sure…”

 

“What are you doing?” came from the doorway.  _ Of course.  _ Aizawa treaded over to them. “Why are you fooling around in the fireplace?”

 

“Oh, Uh- W-We were just-”

 

“I’ve told you before, I don’t like you all snooping around the house- chandeliers, attic doors,  _ or  _ fireplaces.”

 

“Apologies, Mr. Aizawa,” Iida said as he moved the cover back. “W-We can still take the chandelier down, if-”

 

“I’ve already told you, leave it up there,” he said, his agitation growing. “Now, I’ve come to tell you that you will all be in bed early tonight- lights out at nine, and I expect to hear a pin drop after that. Tell the others.”

 

“But-!”

 

A knock came from the front door. “No buts, no buts,” he said, as he left them be to answer it.

 

“Er, maybe we’ve misread the riddle?” Uraraka said, changing the subject.

 

“Maybe,” Tsu replied. “Or maybe it’s just not this fireplace.”

 

Iida spoke up. “Oh, of course! The house has central heating now. I’ll bet maybe the chimney was bricked up when the system was fitted.”

 

“So how do figure out how to get in there?” Uraraka asked.

 

Midoriya hummed, twisting the chain around his neck. “Maybe it’s time we visit Toshinori.”

 

* * *

 

Aizawa found Ms. Kayama behind the door.

 

“I’ve confiscated this from Bakugou earlier. What do you make of it?” she handed him the cellphone, still open on the text message.

 

Aizawa frowned as he read the screen. “Tomura Shigaraki…” Kayama nodded. “TS…” he gripped the phone, hard. “I was afraid of this,” he said, looking over to her. “He’s back. Tenko Shimura is back.”

 

* * *

 

He may not have been able to reply, but Bakugou had still met with Shigaraki easily enough. He was waiting for him when he got there.

 

“Bakugou, did you bring the eye of Horus?”

 

He hesitated for a second. “N-No. This new kid, he had a locket with the eye on it, and I almost had it.”

 

“Where did he get it from?” Shigaraki asked, quickly.

 

“I-I don’t know, he said a friend gave it to him.”

 

He looked around from side to side. “Alright, I’m going to need you to bring him to me.”

 

He gasped. “Does he have something to do with Kirishima’s disappearance?”

 

“Yes, possibly- very likely.” he twitched a little.

 

“Urgh, I knew it!” he kicked at the dirt.

 

“Bakugou,” Shigaraki said, quieter. “I have to go. I will text you a time and a place for us to meet, but you  _ must  _ make sure you bring this boy along.”

 

“How the hell am I gonna do that? We’re not exactly BFFs.”

 

Shigaraki put a hand on his shoulder. Bakugou almost jumped, his jagged, messy fingernails nearly scratching him. “I can tell you’re a very bright boy, Bakugou.” he smiled. “I’m sure you’ll think of something.” With that, he vanished into the thicket.

 

* * *

 

Midoriya led the group down the hallway of Toshinori’s rest home, to his bedroom. “I just hope we catch him in one of his more… lucid moments. He does get really confused.” He reached up to knock on the door, only for it to tilt in- the door was already open. He gasped to see someone was already in the room, moving to close the door to a crack.

 

“Toshinori? Toshinori, do you remember me?” the man said. He spoke with a slightly raised voice, emphasizing every word.

 

“That’s weird,” Midoriya whispered. “I’ve never seen him with another visitor before.”

 

“Toshinori, try to concentrate,” he said again. “We’re talking about the old days.”

 

Midoriya couldn’t see the other man’s face, but he saw as Toshinori squinted- he almost looked like he was straining. “I… I remember your face…”

 

“That’s good, that’s good.”

 

“But… I get so muddled…” Toshinori teared up.

 

“Toshinori, just relax, it’s alright. Everything’s alright. Here, I’ll get you some tea.” as he stood up to leave, Midoriya ducked himself and the others beside the door. It opened outward, so they were hidden as the man left in the opposite direction. Midoriya didn’t see his face- only his modest dress, and stark blue hair.

 

“Maybe we should come back another time.”

 

* * *

 

Bakugou was leaning on Midoriya’s bedroom door as soon as they returned.

 

“Uh, Hey, Kacchan?” Midoriya said. Todoroki glared at the blond from behind him.

 

Bakugou rolled his eyes. “Deku. I wanted to say sorry for going through your stuff. The thing is, I  _ did  _ have a reason, and if you’re interested, I’ll tell you about it.” stepping away from the door, he waved for him to follow. “Can we go for a walk?”

 

Midoriya thought about it for a moment. “Yeah, sure. You, me, no witnesses, should be fine,” he joked. Bakugou pouted, pocketing his hands. “But seriously though, I’d like to talk.” he started off with him. Todoroki reached for his wrist, giving him a questioning look. Midoriya simply nodded, reassuring him it would be okay.

 

He trotted out the door to keep up with him. “Seriously, though, I  _ am  _ interested in what you have to say.  _ If _ … you keep your hands where I can see them.”

 

“Fine, whatever,” Bakugou scoffed, pulling his hands from his pockets and waving them out in the open.

 

“Okay then, I can’t wait to hear this. So why did you want my locket?

 

“Well…” he kicked at the gravel on the path. He never thought up any kind of rational explanation. “I’ve, uh… got this friend. He’s like, an expert on Egypt and all that ancient shit,” he lied. 

 

Midoriya stiffened slightly at the mention of Egypt.  _ Was he onto them? _ “Uh, okay.”

 

“So when I saw that thing of yours, I told him about it, and he reckons it could be worth something. He’s talking, like, millions.”

 

“Really?”

 

“Yeah. That’s why I was trying to borrow it before- so I could show it to him, get confirmation, you know?”

 

“Okay, but…” Midoriya shifted his collar. “You still took it without asking me first. You stole it.”

 

“Yeah, I know, I was wrong to do that!” he said, defensively. “But now I’m being forward with you. So are you interested in meeting him or not?”

 

“I don’t know…” There was no way he was giving it up, of course. But if Bakugou knew someone who’d recognized it, someone who might know more about it, or its history, its connection to the treasure, or even about the treasure itself, then..?

 

“I… I guess I could at least talk to him. Alright, I’ll go.”

 

Bakugou smirked. “Good move.”

 

* * *

 

After walking for what Midoriya thought was ages, without a word from either, the sun had started to set. He decided to strike up conversation again.

 

“So… this friend, what’s his name?”

 

“Uh… Shigaraki,” he said.

 

“And, uh, why do we have to meet this Shigaraki all the way out here?”

 

“Because we do, now stop fucking complaining and keep up.” Bakugou picked up his pace, stomping a little in the dirt path of the woods. 

 

The branches were thicker towards the edge of the road, where a truck was parked. Bakugou didn’t recognize the truck, but he certainly recognized the two people moving towards it. He stopped.

 

“Get back!” He said, shoving Midoriya to the ground behind a bush and ducking down with him.

 

“W-What is it?”

 

Bakugou- and Midoriya, to a lesser extent- looked over in horror, as one of them dragged the other by his arms.

 

“It’s Shigaraki!” Bakugou whispered, watching as his limp, unconscious body was dropped to the ground.

 

_...by Aizawa. _

 

Midoriya gasped, recognizing the man from Toshinori’s room just hours before. They could only watch frozen as Aizawa piled Shigaraki in the back of the truck. He hastily looked over his shoulders before climbing in himself and driving off, Shigaraki in tow.

 

“Kacchan, what’s going on? What’s Mr. Aizawa have to do with it?”

 

“He’s taking him!” he yelled, with total disregard to Midoriya. “Now how the hell am I gonna find Kirishima!?”

 

Midoriya’s head whipped around to him. “What? Kirishima?”

 

Bakugou just screamed, pounding a nearby tree with his fist in frustration. “Fucking forget it, you shitty Deku!” he yelled, stomping away, leaving the other in his shock.

 

* * *

 

Midoriya was left to walk home alone. He made no mention of his walk with Bakugou to anyone else- he didn’t even see him at all for the rest of the night. Following dinner, it was his, Tsuyu’s, and Iida’s turns to clean up. Uraraka and Todoroki having already done their part in chores with dinner, they were free, but chose to stay with them in the kitchen for conversation. For the most part, though, Midoriya just stared off into the space in front of him while the others talked.

 

“So we still have no lead on the fireplace,” Iida said, scrubbing at a pan, “and it seems we won’t be getting anything from Toshinori, either.”

 

Uraraka sighed. “So are we just at a dead end, then? We have no way to get into that fireplace without Aizawa breathing down our necks.”

 

“There’s got to be more to it then that,” Tsuyu said. “I feel like we’re still missing something.” she set a pot down on the top of the old iron stove, the clang of metal snapping Midoriya out of his daze. He looked intently over at the source of the sound, the old oven standing firmly along the wall.

 

“Could  _ that  _ be a fireplace?” he said.

 

The four of them looked over to him, and then caught his gaze.

 

“The oven?” Todoroki asked. Without looking away, Midoriya laid down his sponge and the plate was holding, stepping over to the oven. Palming at the door, he recalled Iida and Uraraka telling him how the oven was jammed shut. He felt around the cold metal embossing on the door- it was a circular design on the square door, revolving around the center of it. At the center of the door…

 

“Of course!” Midoriya exclaimed. The other club members huddled around him, as he sat on his knees. His finger traced over the shape of the eye socket, welded into the door of the oven.

 

“That’s just like the one in the attic!” Todoroki said.

 

“This might be a long shot, but…” Midoriya pulled out the green glowing locket, and clicked it into the hole. They all watched in awe as the oven door creaked, folding inwards- not on its side, like the fake hinges had led them to believe, but rather up towards the roof of the oven.

 

“Not that long, I guess!”

 

“Look!” Tsuyu pointed inside it. “I can see some stairs leading down.”

 

“That’s it!” Todoroki said. “Khet- Inferno, place of fire!”

 

“Er, what do you mean?” Iida asked.

 

“Inferno- hell. The clue means, ‘down in hell’...”

 

“Well,” Midoriya said, pocketing the locket, “Time to prove years worth of threats from Kacchan right, I guess. Let’s go!”

 

* * *

 

The space was dark, and cramped, but the five of them all managed to enter the passage in sequence. The stairs only led down about ten feet, so the travel was quick. On the other side of the tunnel, a wooden panel pushed out into a much larger space. Standing up, the five club members all turned on their flashlights.

 

“What… is this place?” Midoriya looked around. The dark, foreboding room was full of long tables, littered with beakers and vials of a variety of chemicals. Some were simple, and even labeled, like water and vinegar. Others were stranger, or downright horrifying, such as the whole snake coiled up inside a jar of yellow fluid.

 

“A ghost!” Uraraka screamed, suddenly. She stepped back, shining her light on what was actually a mannequin.

 

“More like a sheet,” Tsuyu whispered, taking her hand. The mannequin was wearing a strange hooded cloak.

 

“Hey, I think I found a lightswitch!” Iida called. A moment later, several lightbulbs hung from the ceiling buzzed on, illuminating the room. Near where Iida was standing, a set of wooden plank stairs led up to a door.

 

“We must be in the cellar.” Todoroki looked over at another table, where a taxidermied boar head sat on what used to be its own neck. “Toshinori’s recordings talked about stuffed animals, but something tells me he didn’t mean teddy bears.”

 

“Hey, look! On the wall!” Midoriya pointed to a corner in the room. On the stone wall was a painted depiction of burning logs, like a campfire. Underneath it, a large ring was chained- a large,  _ golden  _ ring.

 

“There in the flames, you must look behind!” Uraraka said.

 

Iida picked up the ring, and pulled hard- trying, to no avail, to break it away from the wall. Todoroki stepped up to it, grabbing with both hands, and planting a foot on the wall. With one sharp yank, it broke off. 

 

“Yes!” The ring, with a diameter as big as his forearm, had a string of numbers rounding the inside.

 

“A code?” 

 

“The next clue! Sibuna!” Uraraka cheered, and saluted.

 

“Sibuna!” came from the rest.

 

_ Thump.  _ Behind them, the upstairs door opened, and a flashlight-wielding shadow took up the wall.

 

“Uh-oh. Hide!” Midoriya flicked the lightswitch off, and led them back to the wood panel, hiding and watching as Aizawa stalked down the stairs. He flicked the switch on again in a moment. From the thin crack of the door, the five of them watched as Aizawa quickly singled out one bottle amidst them all- one less than a quarter full of an amber colored liquid.

 

“Ah, so little left.” he sighed, uncorking the bottle. He poured a miniscule amount into a test tube, and cut it with water until it was full. He lifted the mixture, still potent in its color, as if he were toasting. “To life,” he said, and slowly, he drank it all.

 

* * *

 

“What  _ was _ that?” Uraraka said, as she crawled out from the oven behind the rest.

 

“That was seriously strange.” Even Tsuyu was unsettled. Just then, before Midoriya could close the oven door, a wail echoed from the mouth of the cavern, earning gasps from all five of them. The door levered back into place, sealed once again.

 

Midoriya stood up, holding the ring. “Let’s… try and get some rest.” Nobody objected.

 

Tiptoeing out of the kitchen, they were greeted by a gruff “Ahem.”

 

“Why are none of you in bed?” Aizawa said. He had just stepped out of the cellar, the door still open behind him. “I called for lights out ten minutes ago.”

 

They all simply gawked in horror. “W-We were just… finishing our chores.”

 

“Get to bed.  _ Now, _ ” he spoke hurriedly. When nobody moved, other than to exchange glances, he said it again- louder. “Now!” With that, Uraraka and Tsuyu hurried down the hall, and the boys upstairs. Aizawa glared between the two groups, waiting even after the click of their doors shutting.

 

The knock on the front door came not a moment too soon.

 

* * *

 

_ “We pledge ourselves to the Ankh.” _

 

_ “We pledge ourselves to eternity.” _

 

_ “We pledge ourselves to the Ankh.” _

 

_ “We pledge ourselves to eternity.” _

 

He led them on in their rhythmic chant, as they circled the room. One by one, they let their hoods back, as they completed the verse. He was the last, his hood moving along with his coarse, black hair.

 

“Brothers and sisters,” he said, “The chosen hour fast approaches.” He stepped to the center of their circle. “Soon, we will tip the scales of life.”

 

_ “Ad pondus omnium,”  _ one among them quoted in Latin. They cleared the way for one more, who stood against the wall.

 

“Especially now,” he continued, “as we have our tenth member- the one who will replace the betrayer.” he stepped forward, reaching to unfurl his hood, detangling the masque from the blond hair that strayed from its bun, and turning his body around. “Welcome, new initiate.” 

 

All the while, he stood straight and still, with his eyes shut.

 

_ “Ad multos annos,” _ he spoke.

 

_ “Ad multos annos,”  _ they continued with him.

 

_ “Ad multos annos.” _

 

_ “Ad multos annos.” _

 

_ “Ad multos annos.” _

 


	10. Curiosity

Despite what Midoriya had said, nobody in Sibuna had gotten much sleep that night. For what it was worth though, at least they were able to fall asleep eventually- right as they were supposed to have been waking up.

 

“Ochako?” Tsuyu poked the other girl’s cheek, as she stirred in her sleep. “Ochako, you need to get up, or we’ll be late for school.”

 

Uraraka groaned, sitting up with her eyes still closed. “Can’t… didn’t sleep a wink…”

 

“Except for right now?” Tsu quirked her eyebrow, smirking. Uraraka shuffled out of her bed.

 

“Seriously, all that business with the cellar last night… it had me freaked out. Especially that wailing noise.”

 

“Yeah, I’m with you on that,” she said, as she started to plait her hair. “What do you think made that noise, anyway?”

 

“I don’t know…” Uraraka stretched. “You don’t… think it was _him,_ do you Tsu?”

 

“Doubt it. That tone was way too high to be Aizawa’s voice.”

 

“Well, what else could’ve been down there that made that noise?”

 

_Creeeak_

 

The pair turned their heads toward the bedroom doors, which had just opened a crack seemingly on their own. Looking between each other, and back to the doors, they stood up and tiptoed over to them. Giving gentle gasps, they watched as the purring source of the sound traipsed its way up to them.

 

* * *

 

“A cat?” Todoroki asked.

 

“Yeah, It just... appeared in our bedroom.” Tsuyu had invited him and Midoriya into the girls’ room, watching as Ashido gushed over the feline. “We couldn’t find a tag on its collar, so we’re keeping it in here for now.”

 

“Awww, just look at him!” Ashido was playing with the cat’s legs. “It’s like he’s got little socks!”

 

Midoriya leaned in to the other three. “Do you think that’s what made that sound last night?”

 

“Probably.” Uraraka looked over and watched as the black and white-speckled animal skipped over to them, hopping straight up into Midoriya’s lap. He smiled, petting it, when Todoroki tried- and failed- to muffle a laugh.

 

“Hm? What’s so funny?” Midoriya asked.

 

When he’d gotten ahold of himself, he turned to look at him. “I _knew_ you weren’t allergic to cats.”

 

Through his realization and covering his embarrassed face, he gently pushed him.

 

* * *

 

“I suppose that’s why the sound was so loud,” Iida said, sitting down with the group at breakfast. Word of the house’s visitor had spread quickly among the students. “The cellar walls reverberated its cry.”

 

 _“Mrrroooow!”_ Uraraka imitated the cat’s meow. _“Mrrroooow!”_

 

“Stop making that dreadful noise,” Aizawa said from the… floor? Over by the living area, the caretaker was down on all fours, peering under one of the couches.

 

“Sorry, Aizawa!”

 

He stood up, turning to walk away, but did a double take at her. “Why were you making that noise, anyway?”

 

“Uh… drama exercises!” she said. “Mr. Yamada says I need to breathe through my diaphragm.”

 

“Have you lost something, Mr. Aizawa?” Todoroki quickly changed the subject. “Maybe we could help you find it?”

 

“Yeah!” Midoriya agreed. “Todoroki is super sleuthy.”

 

“Of course I haven’t lost anything.” Aizawa scoffed, averting his gaze while walking away.

 

Todoroki rolled his eyes, smiling. “Did you see his reaction? It’s obviously his cat.”

 

“Aizawa doesn’t have a cat,” Iida said. “Well, not a living one, that is.”

 

“Tell that to the cat,” Tsu quipped. “He must’ve been keeping it in the cellar- and like Iida said, that’s why that wail was so loud.”

 

Todoroki nodded. “And now he must be looking for it.”

 

“You guys don’t think… that ring in the cellar,” Uraraka said, “Did you see the way it was chained to the wall? I thought it made it look like a shackle.”

 

“Are you suggesting something was meant to be tied to it?” Iida rubbed his chin. “That ring seemed awfully big for an animal.”

 

“A tethering ring, then? There were a _lot_ of stuffed animals down there.”

 

“I hate the thought, but, Uraraka does have a point,” Todoroki said while picked at his food. “You all heard Toshinori’s recordings- he said there were animals in the cellar.” The five of them all watched as Ashido skipped towards the girls’ bedroom, with a cereal bowl full of milk. “I hope _that_ wasn’t supposed to be one of them.”

 

“Where are you going with that?” Aizawa called her out before she get get across the foyer.

 

“Uh, my room?”

 

“And what do you intend to do with it?”

 

“Drink it, duh.”

 

“From a bowl?”

 

“It’s _tres french._ That exchange kid from the other class taught it to me.”

 

Aizawa reached for the bowl. “Give,” he said, before taking it from her. On his outstretched hand, Ashido was taken aback to see his hand covered in a still fresh set of scratch marks.

 

“Ooh!” She winced. “That looks sore.” Aizawa grunted irritatedly as he took the bowl back to the kitchen.

 

* * *

 

Todoroki turned the ring around in his hand again and again. On the outer circumference was, yet again, an array of unidentifiable hieroglyphics- and on the inside, a string of numbers. “This is really frustrating,” he said, typing away at his laptop with the other.

 

Iida, in the opposite desk, had sketched out the sequence of numbers into several different matrices. “It’s got nothing to do with prime numbers, or square roots, or sudoku…”

 

Midoriya simply grunted as he practically assaulted his calculator.

 

“I still can’t stop thinking about all those chemicals,” Tsuyu said, with her index finger on her chin. “And that mixture Aizawa was drinking, whatever that all was.”

 

“He may be pretty gruff, but even he doesn’t seem like a drinking type,” Uraraka said, taking the seat next to her. “Besides, he works in a school. He’d never get away with that.”

 

Midoriya looked up. “He made a toast ‘to life’ when he drank that weird mixture. What was _that_ about?”

 

“Life…” Todoroki also stopped. “On the fifth cylinder, that voice at the end… do you think that really _was_ Aizawa?”

 

“Wouldn’t that make him about a hundred and twenty, or so?” Tsu said, skeptically.

 

“Exactly- he was toasting, _to life.”_

 

“Okay,” Uraraka recapped, “So are you suggesting that Aizawa has some kind of... an elixir that makes him live longer? That’s seriously crazy.”

 

“Maybe, but we’ve seen _a lot_ of seriously crazy lately.” She really couldn’t deny that.

 

“What’s seriously crazy?” as Kaminari curiously strolled up to them, Todoroki shoved the ring back into his bag. “Whatcha got there?” he asked to Iida, whose desk was covered in loose leaf paper that he’d written out the matrices on.

 

“Oh- it’s, um, a math problem. Advanced, a very complicated one.”

 

“Can I have a try?”

 

All of them looked up at him. They all liked the guy, and thought he was a nice person, but nobody was slow to admit that he wasn’t exactly the brightest bulb in the bunch.

 

“Er… no thanks.”

 

“Hm, okay.” as Kaminari started to walk off, he suddenly swiped two of the sheets.

 

“Hey! Kaminari!” he reached for them, but Kaminari smacked his hand back.

 

“One, two, and nine,” he said.

 

Iida dropped his jaw. “W-What was that?”

 

He shrugged. “No idea what the problem is. But, one, two, and nine are the numbers that appear the most.”

 

The others simply blinked, watching as Kaminari let the paper flutter back onto Iida’s desk while he went to sit at his own. He was followed shortly by Bakugou, who dropped himself roughly into the chair, as Mr. Yamada started the Drama lesson.

 

“Afternoon, class!” His upbeat attitude had gradually returned.

 

“Afternoon,” came demurely from the class.

 

He cleared his throat. “Alrighty, time is flying, and we need to decide on a subject for our school play. I was thinking we could write our own! Any ideas?”

 

The students turned to look at one another, exchanging murmurs for some moments before Uraraka alone put her hand in the air.

 

“Yes, Uraraka?”

 

“I had an idea! What if we did a play about ancient Egypt?”

 

Midoriya nearly choked on his water bottle.

 

“Hey, that’s a nice one!” Yamada pointed a pair of finger guns. “You know, I’ve particularly been kind of a fan of Egyptian mythology- all that interest in life after death, and living forever, and whatnot.”

 

“Yeah, great idea Ochako,” Tsuyu agreed. “Anubis House _is_ named after an Egyptian god, after all.”

 

“Do you want to have a go at writing up an outline, Uraraka?” he asked. “We can maybe even have you do the script!”

 

“Hmm, I think I might need some help with that.” She turned to her nearby classmate. “What do you say, Midoriya?”

 

He coughed. “Uh, s-sure!”

 

* * *

 

 

“Uraraka, what were you doing in there?” Todoroki whispered to her after the lesson. “We can’t draw attention to ourselves like that.”

 

“He’s right, Uraraka,” Iida chastised, as he opened the front door to the house. “What were you thinking?”

 

“Well, I was _thinking_ that it would give us an opportunity to research.”

 

Iida furrowed his eyebrows. “Research?”

 

“Yeah- the teachers would be giving us sources to write the script with, right? I thought if we got ahold of some more texts and stuff about Egypt, we might be able to find out more about the treasure- and, why not have some fun with writing a school play while we’re at it?”

 

“Hey, good thinking, Uraraka,” Midoriya affirmed. She nodded as a way of thanks.

 

As they split up for the afternoon, Midoriya and Uraraka agreed to meet again later to begin their playwriting. Before she and Tsuyu could settle in their own room, Ashido had ran up to them and brought them in herself.

 

“We’ve got a problem! The cat’s gone!”

 

Uraraka dropped her bag. “What?”

 

“It’s gone! I-I don’t know, the door was open when I got here, and it’s just- gone!”

 

“I’m sure it’s still in the house,” Tsu tried to reassure her. “Aizawa’s out on errands, and you were the first one home- maybe we’ll find it around here somewhere.”

 

“I’ve already looked in every room, even Aizawa’s office. The only cat in there was the creepy stuffed one…”

 

She tapped her chin. “Hmm… are you sure you checked _every_ room?”

 

Uraraka turned to her. “Huh? What do you mean?”

 

“I mean, have you checked… I don’t know, say, the cellar?”

 

“Duh, of course not! It’s locked!”

 

“But maybe the cat found its way down there,” she said, passing a glance to Uraraka.

 

“You want to look down _there?”_ Ashido questioned.

 

“Y-Yeah!” Uraraka caught on. “Why not? We won’t know for sure if we don’t try,” she said, leading them back out to the hall. She leaned to Tsuyu, and whispered to her. “But wait, how are we gonna get down there without Midoriya’s locket?”

 

Tsuyu smirked, pulling a pin from her hair. “We go the old-fashioned way.”

 

* * *

 

Even during the day, the cellar was nearly pitch black. Armed with their phone flashlights and Tsuyu’s hairpin, the trio of girls descended into the cellar from the front door.

 

“Eugh,” Ashido coughed. “It’s so musty down here.”  She shined her light around the room, at all the chemicals and taxidermies. “This is seriously weird, what’s Aizawa even doing with this place?”

 

“Mina,” Tsuyu tried to change the subject. “The cat.”

 

“R-Right.” She tiptoed down the rest of the stairs.

 

“Okay,” Uraraka whispered to Tsuyu, “While Mina looks for the cat, let’s find that brew.” With a nod of reply from Tsu, the two tiptoed over to the line of tables, while Ashido kneeled around a pile of cardboard boxes.

 

“Was it this one?” Tsu asked, lifting one of the dozens of bottles. “It matches that bright color.”

 

“No, that one’s too full. He said there was only a little left, right?” They had only sifted through the chemicals for a few moments before Ashido’s voice perked up with a gasp.

 

“There you are, kitty cat!” she skipped over to a wooden stool in a corner of the room. She could see the silhouette of the animal from the reflection of the other girl’s lights. She reached out pet its head, letting her fingers run through the fuzzy, warm- er... cold... fur? She lifted her flashlight, looking to see the cat’s glazed over eyes just as unmoving as the rest of its body.

 

Her bloodcurdling scream was nearly enough to make them drop every bit of glassware in the room.

 

“Get out! Get out, get out, get out!” Ashido scrambled to drag the other two up the stairs.

 

“What is it!?”

 

“It’s stuffed!” she cried, locking the door from the inside and slamming it shut behind them.

 

* * *

 

“What’s going on?” Sero called, running down the steps, with all the other boys in tow. “Mina?”

 

“How could he..?” Ashido sat on her bed, shaking, while the girls did the best to console her. “How could he?” They could only look at the others who stood in the door with blank, shocked faces.

 

“Mina?” he said again.

 

“Oh, Sero,” she said through her sob. “T-There was this cat, a-and we were keeping it in our room, and it disappeared and Aizawa took it into the cellar,” she stammered, running on with her sentence. “A-And now it’s d-dead, and I’m _really_ scared, and please can you help us..!” She ran up to him, hugging him tight as she wept on his shoulder.

 

Midoriya spoke up. “Y-You guys were down in the cellar?”

 

“What the fuck is she talking about?” Bakugou butted in.

 

Uraraka looked down to the floor. “I… I think we need to ask Aizawa that.”

 

* * *

 

For the rest of that evening, even long after Aizawa had came home, the group of nine stayed in the girls’ room, avoiding him while Ashido recounted the trip when she had calmed down. Uraraka and Tsuyu vouched for every claim she made, but knowingly agreed with the boys of Sibuna on what to withhold.

 

Iida and Sero, agreeing to be the soothsayers of the group, were to be the ones to confront Aizawa first. Meanwhile, the other seven took to the living room while they waited.

 

“This all just sounds… really strange,” Kaminari said.

 

“I know,” Tsuyu replied, “But just trust us, once you see all the weird stuff down there-”

 

“And the cat!” Ashido added.

 

“-you’ll know we’re telling the truth.”

 

“You lot,” Aizawa interrupted, entering the room, “wouldn’t know truth if it jumped up and hit you in the eye.” he sat down on the couch, with the others standing in front of him. “Now then, what’s this all about?”

 

“W-Well…” Iida started. “You see, we’re worried about this cat that Ashido had found.” he looked between Aizawa and Ashido.

 

“A cat?” Aizawa repeated.

 

“Y-Yes,” Iida said. “Erm, the thing is, uh… she’s told us that… um…”

 

Ashido stomped her foot. “You killed it!” she blurted out. “You killed the cat!”

 

“Killed it?” While everyone else went silent, Aizawa narrowed his eyes. “You think I’ve killed a cat? Now why on Earth would I do that?”

 

“For your experiments in the cellar!” Uraraka jumped to her defense.

 

“Yeah!” Ashido agreed. “What about the scratches on your arm? They’re clearly cat scratches!”

 

Immediately, Aizawa’s hand flew to cover his opposite wrist. “Quiet!” he said, raising his voice.

 

“Er, how _did_ you get those scratches, Mr. Aizawa?” Todoroki asked.

 

Aizawa took a deep breath. “There _was_ a cat, yes,” he said, calmer. “A stray, which I had let into the cellar for safe keeping, until I could call the animal shelter. In the meantime, though, it escaped, and I have absolutely no idea where it is now.”

 

“Liar!” Ashido yelled, right to his face. “You took it down there and killed it!”

 

Aizawa shot up from his seat, glaring daggers at the group as he towered over them. “You want to see what’s inside the cellar?” he ripped his ring of keys away from his belt. “Fine! Come on, then!” he waved for the teens to follow. “Come on!” he yelled.

 

He threw open the cellar door, stomping down the steps while everyone else followed. As they all reached the bottom, they were led in to see the expanse of the cellar- completely empty. All the chemicals, all the stuffed animals- gone.

 

Uraraka blinked. “But- But the…?” She was startled out of her shocked silence by a meow.

 

“Aha,” Aizawa said. “The cat, I assume?” They all watched as the feline skipped up to Ashido, rubbing its face on her ankle.

 

“W-What?”

 

“It looks very much alive to me,” he said.

 

“But I saw it! It was dead!”

 

“There were a _lot_ of dead animals down here!” Midoriya concurred.

 

“And what about those chemicals?” Todoroki added.

 

“We wouldn’t make that stuff up!” Uraraka also said.

 

“That’s enough!” Aizawa raised his voice again. “I’ve had enough of this from you all for one night,” he said, pulling out his pocket watch and displaying the time. “It’s nine o’clock. All of you, go get ready for bed. _Now.”_

 

* * *

 

Ashido was allowed to see the cat off at the shelter the next day. She of course put in a subtle but considerable word to her parents about adopting it. After returning to the house, she immediately met up with her friends.

 

“I just… don’t understand,” she said. “So the cat wasn’t killed, okay, but… there was still a bunch of creepy stuff down there! _Other_ dead animals!”

 

“And… chemicals?” Kaminari asked. “Tsu and Todoroki said something about that.”

 

Ashido pointed at him. “Yes! That too!”

 

Bakugou groaned. Rather than engaging in her conversation, he was engrossed in dialing his cellphone. “Shigaraki’s still not fucking picking up. It’s like Kirishima all over again.”

 

“Are you even listening, dude?”

 

“Oh, I am,” he said. “You’re right about one thing- Aizawa’s being shady as hell, and we’ve both got examples.”

 

“You guys believe me, then, right?” she asked.

 

“It’s definitely believable,” Bakugou replied. “But you saw the place just the same as us- it was emptier than his fuckin’ soul.”

 

“But you didn’t see it before!” she added. “Maybe… maybe he was onto us, and he hid everything away! Like when you forget to clean your bedroom, and you just throw everything in the closet.”

 

“I mean, Uraraka and Tsuyu were with her, right? When have they ever lied?” Sero tried to offer.

 

“Yeah, and, there was something else that’s been bothering me. You don’t think it has anything to do with Kiri, do you?”

 

Now she had Bakugou’s full attention. “The fuck’s that supposed to mean?”

 

“I _mean,_ you all heard Aizawa talking to that cop. So maybe Kirishima’s not… _buried_ buried, but, there’s still something going on with him and Aizawa! What if the stuff in the cellar is involved with it?”

 

* * *

 

Midoriya dashed into the bedroom. “Hey, you guys have got to see this!” he said, fumbling with his open laptop.

 

Todoroki laid down his notebook. “What do you have there?” he asked, as he leaned in with Iida.

 

“Uraraka and I were doing some research for the school play, right? I found something amazing.” he turned the screen to present the article to them.

 

“Woah,” Iida said. “This is about the Howard Carter expedition to the pharaoh Tutankhamun’s tomb.”

 

“Exactly!” he read some of it off. “I already showed this to Uraraka and Tsu. There were twenty-two people on his team, and get this- two of them used to live right here.”

 

Todoroki looked on in awe. “The Yagis.”

 

“Yes! But that’s not even the most amazing part.” He scrolled down further, to a section of scanned newspaper articles. “They were later involved in a high-profile court case. Apparently, they were accused of stealing items from the tomb during the expedition, and smuggling them back here to Japan.”

 

“They were both found not guilty, but only by majority verdict,” Iida continued for him. “After the trial, some of the jurors reported that they believed the couple had hidden the items.”

 

“And I checked,” Midoriya said, “And to this day, the items have never been recovered.”

 

“So,” Todoroki said, “You’re saying that the treasure we’re looking for, might actually be these items?”

 

Midoriya smiled brightly. “That’s _exactly_ what I’m saying.”

 

Iida gasped, gently. “Wait, scroll back up for a moment. What was that date, again? The year?”

 

“Uh, 1922?”

 

Iida snapped his fingers, reaching for his notebook and writing the year out. “One, Nine, Two, Two! It’s like Kaminari said- One, Two, and Nine!”

 

Midoriya gasped, out loud. “That’s the numbers from the ring clue! 1922!”

 

Todoroki laughed with excitement. “Can you imagine if there really is treasure from King Tutankhamun’s tomb right here in Anubis House? This could be big!”

 

Midoriya nodded. “And our next clue is somehow linked to this date.”

 

* * *

 

Once they’d gathered again, they found it in the foyer. On the pedestal of the tall standing sarcophagus, one of many great symbols of the house’s Egyptian motif, was a plaque displaying the number clear as day- 1922.

 

“Yes!” Midoriya exclaimed. Kneeling on the floor, he prodded and poked at the stone pedestal- until the plaque itself clicked like a button. It retracted, and then flipped open- revealing a secret compartment that housed another folded scrap of papyrus.

 

“Another clue?” Uraraka asked.

 

Midoriya unfolded it, and read it out loud.

 

_“Beleathered and clasped here is the only place where yesterday always follows tomorrow.”_

 

“Beleathered and clasped,” Todoroki pondered the riddle aloud. “An old briefcase, maybe? Or a book?”

 

“A diary?” Tsuyu suggested.

 

“Hey, remember when we found the chandelier under the stairs?” Iida said. “There’s also a large box of old books in there. Maybe that’s where we’ll find it!”

 

With a round of agreeing nods, the group made their way over to the cupboard, and burrowed into the stack of boxes immediately.

 

“So, we’re looking for a leather book with clasp, then?” Uraraka filed through several leatherback books. “What about the other part of the riddle? Where yesterday always follows tomorrow..?”

 

“Hey, how about this?” Tsuyu showed off one book in particular.

 

 _“The Time Machine,_ by H.G. Wells?” Todoroki read off the cover.

 

“It may not have a clasp lock, but it it’s ‘beleathered’ like it says in the clue- and it’s about time travel, so ‘yesterday follows tomorrow’ makes sense there, doesn’t it?”

 

“I’ve read that before,” Iida added. “There’s a sphinx involved at one point in the story- perhaps that’s connected to the clue, because of the allusion to Egypt?”

 

“That could be it!” Midoriya assured. “Is there anything inside it, Tsu?”

 

While the others kept up their own searches, Tsuyu flipped through the book’s pages. “Hmm… I don’t see anything. But it was a good guess.”

 

“Hmm, well, what about a photo album?” Midoriya wondered out loud when he had found one. “That could be somewhere that yesterday follows tomorrow, right?” Like the riddle said, it was bound with a leather cover and sealed with an ornate clasp. Flipping through the pages, he found many more photos of Anubis House- both interior and exterior, from its heyday and across the years. One photo, dated in 1925, depicted the garden. The groundskeeper stood tall and proud in front of the brick fence, his lengthy black hair drifting along his unshaven face.

 

_...wait._

 

“T-Todoroki?” Midoriya whispered. “Look at this.”

 

Todoroki shared his shock. “Is that... Aizawa? But... he looks exactly the same as he does now.”

 

“Hey, are you guys okay?” Uraraka asked.

 

“Yeah,” Tsu said. “You guys look like you’ve seen a ghost.”

 

Midoriya looked up at them, feeling himself go pale in the face. “I think we have.”

 


	11. All-Seeing

The following morning had certainly started off with a bang- of a hammer, that is. The whole house was greeted to the loud, repetitive tapping in almost every part of the house.

 

“No way!” Ashido exclaimed. “They’re installing security cameras? Can they even do that?” The nine students watched Aizawa instruct one worker in the living room, as he drove a set of plastic screw guides into the wall.

 

“The school is always striving to improve its personal security.” Aizawa directed another person with a stepladder towards the kitchen. “This is our latest measure to help you feel safe and secure.”

 

Bakugou scoffed. “Is this a fucking joke?”

 

“Of course not. After all, safety is a good priority. We wouldn’t want to have someone such as, say, a terrible cat murderer on the loose, now would we?” Aizawa jabbed back, not so subtly, as he stalked off.

 

* * *

 

Once they’d gotten to school, Midoriya pulled the Sibunas to the side. “This is bad. We won’t be able to keep up the search with cameras everywhere.”

 

“Yeah,” Tsuyu agreed. “It’s like we’re on a really dull reality TV show.”

 

“Well, we  _ did  _ pretty much admit that we snuck down into the cellar.” Uraraka shook her head, sighing. “Even with the secret passage, this whole thing’s going to be even harder than ever.”

 

“And,” Iida added, “We still haven’t solved the riddle yet. I mean, finding that strange photograph of Aizawa was rather interesting, but there wasn’t any kind of clue.”

 

“It gets even stranger, actually.” Todoroki pulled something from his blazer pocket. “There are two or three others, all from different years.” The photographs were all across black and white, sepia, and full color, but the person in them remained the same.

 

“Woah…”

 

“Do you think he really is a ghost?”

 

“No, I don’t.” Todoroki pocketed the photos. “But I  _ do  _ think it’s confirmation of a possible elixir of life.”

 

“Perhaps to us,” Iida replied. “But it may not be the most concrete thing to present- photos can be edited. We need to get ahold of the real deal, the actual elixir.”

 

“But how are we going to do that with Aizawa’s eyes over us, twenty-four-seven?” Tsuyu asked.

 

Midoriya sighed. “There’s, like, a thousand unanswered questions in this one mystery. We need to stick together now, more than ever.” he saluted. “Sibuna!”

 

“Sibuna!” the others followed.

 

“Okay,” Uraraka continued. “We’ll have to put all that on hold. I might have an idea about those cameras, but it means enlisting the help of our favorite duo of comedy actors.”

 

Tsuyu tilted her head. “SpongeBob and Patrick?”

 

Midoriya giggled. “I think she means Kaminari and Sero.”

 

* * *

 

Aizawa had four cameras installed in total- one in the living room, one for the kitchen, one in the entrance hall, which could also see into upstairs balcony and the hallway towards the girl’s bedroom, and one upstairs for the boy’s bedrooms’ hallway. With the feed from all four situated onto his desktop monitor, he had eyes in the sky at all times.

 

When he was hoping for a change from watching the empty, monotonous rooms of the house for hours on end, watching the feed suddenly look like the faces of eight children waving into the camera was not exactly what he had in mind.

 

Standing on tall chairs, the group of students had overtaken each of them with two to a camera- Kaminari and Sero in the hallway, Uraraka and Tsuyu in the living room, Iida and Todoroki in the kitchen, and Midoriya with Ashido upstairs.

 

“Get away from those cameras, immediately!” Aizawa announced, over the microphone he’d also had installed with the cameras. Nobody obliged- instead, they all continued to play about in front of the cameras. Ashido pretended to do her makeup, Midoriya posed like he was taking a selfie, Uraraka and Tsuyu kept on waving their hands, and Kaminari gave Sero bunny ears while he peace signed.

 

He stomped down the stairs. “Kaminari! Sero!” he called out the closest group. “Get down from there at once!”

 

“Aw, what’s wrong, Aizawa?” Kaminari asked, innocently. “We’re just doing the same as you! We’re watching you, watching us!” Uraraka and Tsuyu waved again at him from behind them.

 

“It’s a peaceful protesting,” Sero said.

 

“You impudent-!” Aizawa seethed, turning back up the stairs. “Fine! You can stand on your little chairs until lights out, for all I care! You’ll get bored of this sooner or later.”

 

* * *

 

Later came soon, and the group had dispersed at the ten o’clock speech. Determined, Aizawa remained at his computer even hours after. It wasn’t until around midnight that the expected act-up had begun again. He watched as two sheets with eye holes danced across the upstairs hallway, seemingly waving right at the camera. 

 

“Kaminari, Sero. I know it’s you two. You’re both grounded.” His announcement only drew the two ghosts closer to the camera, tauntingly throwing their hands towards it. “The next person to step out of line will get worse than that! I can, and I will, bring your time at this school to and end. Go to your rooms!”

 

One of the sheets tripped over itself on its way into the bedroom.

 

* * *

 

_ Third time’s a charm? _

 

Their next protest was more simple- a sit-in at breakfast. After eating, the group of nine stayed put and opted to do their leftover schoolwork on the spot.

 

“What’s going on here?” Aizawa demanded. “Get to your lessons.”

 

“Not until you have the cameras taken down!” Todoroki protested.

 

“Yeah!” Uraraka agreed. “They’re an invasion of our privacy!”

 

“You dare to make demands of me?” he leaned in over the table. “I’ll show you what demands you ought to make, when I speak to Mr. Nezu about having you all thrown out of this school.”

 

“You don’t have the fuckin’ power!” They could only leave it to Bakugou to be the aggressor of the bunch.

 

“Oh, Bakugou,” Aizawa leered over him. “I have more power than you could even begin to imagine.” he stood up straight, addressing the whole again. “Now, I’m giving you all one more chance to obey my orders. Get to class. Now.”

 

Nobody moved, or spoke, for a solid ten seconds. Finally, it was Midoriya of all people who broke the silence.

 

“No.”

 

Taken aback, Aizawa let his head turn to the side, as he pinched the bridge of his nose. “What… did you just say?”

 

“I-I…” Midoriya worked himself up. “I said… no.”

 

Todoroki nodded. “No.”

 

The students looked between each other, and the caretaker. “No!” they all declared, together.

 

Aizawa, still rigid in both stance and demeanor, merely glared at the group, pointing two fingers between them and his own eyes before backing out of the room.

 

* * *

 

Ms. Kayama sighed. “I’m not sure that these security cameras are the best course of action, you know.”

 

“They are absolutely vital!” Aizawa defended himself. “We need to keep a close eye on this particular group of students! Need I remind you just what exactly is at stake here?”

 

Nezu hung up his desk phone. “But I’m afraid they’ve brought unwanted attention to the school, Aizawa. You  _ know  _ we can’t afford these complaints.”

 

Kayama nodded. “Enji Todoroki has threatened to remove his son from the school unless they’re removed.”

 

“And why should I care about that?”

 

“The parents’ fees  _ do  _ fund your ‘research’, after all,” Nezu said, using air quotes.

 

“It’s ‘research’ that will save you all-!”

 

“That’s enough,” Nezu raised his voice. “I’m afraid I have to concur with Nemuri on this one, Aizawa. The cameras must go.”

 

* * *

 

_ He  _ was there that afternoon.

 

The group of nine hadn’t left the table all day. When they finally stood up, the one at the door was the person they’d least expected to see- Shouto, especially.

 

“F-Father?”

 

“Shouto.” Enji stood in the entrance hall, arms folded, as Aizawa squeezed his way past him with a toolbox in hand. “I don’t think you’ll have any further problems with security cameras.” The students watched stunned as Aizawa personally yanked one off the living room wall with the claw end of a hammer.

 

“Y-You’re Todoroki’s dad?”

 

He nodded. “I am.” Midoriya thought the apathy in his face could give Aizawa envy.

 

“What are you doing here? How’d you even find out about this?” Todoroki questioned, with a cold manner in his tone at a degree Midoriya had never seen before.

 

“I have my ways.” Midoriya felt small in his presence, this tower of a man. “Perhaps now you’ll focus on your education without the need for more of these… immature distractions.”

 

“What’s it to you?” Todoroki shot back. 

 

Enji furrowed his eyebrows. “Damn it, you little-!”

 

“That’s enough,” Aizawa groaned from the living room, stalking straight back up to them. “Dr. Todoroki, I personally have had it up to here with you today as it is. Do  _ not  _ bring that attitude of yours into this house.” He turned to the students. “As for you all, I may not have the cameras anymore, but I am still watching you. Do  _ not  _ forget that.” With that, Aizawa dragged three of the dismantled cameras and his hammer upstairs.

 

Enji let out something between a gruff sigh, and a hard grunt. “I’ll be seeing you then, Shouto,” he said, as he left through the doorway he was standing in. Shouto glared at his back the entire time.

 

Midoriya gave him a soft look. “T-Todoroki? Are you okay?” He partially recalled the other boy’s passing comment in their first conversation together.

 

He forced a small smile. “Yeah. I will be.”

 

* * *

 

With nothing left to fight for, afternoon classes awaited the tardy students of Anubis House- particularly, Drama.

 

“Hello, hello, all!” Yamada greeted the class in the small theater. “Before we start the lesson, I’d like to direct your attention over here.” He gestured to the wall, at a tall poster. “Anyone who’s interested in participating in the school play, feel free to sign up here. Now then- Uraraka, Midoriya, how are you two doing with the outline?”

 

“We’re all over it!” Uraraka assured. “Right, Midoriya?”

 

“Yeah!” he flipped through the spiral notebook he’d been sharing with her. “We’ve kept the Egypt theme, and we’re still doing a bit of research, and we’ve written some of the early scenes together. We’re just, er, not sure if they’re ready yet.”

 

“Don’t sweat it! It’s all a work in progress. If I may ask, though, what kind of Egyptian theme did you two have in mind?”

 

“Well,” Uraraka began to gesture vaguely with her hands. “We decided on doing a retelling of this old myth we read. It’s about these two Egyptian gods, named Horus and Set, who are both fighting to become the king of Egypt!” Uraraka and Midoriya had spent hours on end reading up on the many interpretations of the legends of Horus and Set; The more they read, the more they gained an even greater appetite for the lore (and less of an appetite for lettuce. They were sure to keep their rendition of the story rated PG to PG-13 at the absolute  _ most. _ ).

 

“Interesting! Very interesting! A story with a great conflict premise! Again, no hurry, but I would like to start assigning roles by next week, if that’s okay?”

 

“O-Oh, next week?” Midoriya repeated.

 

Uraraka clapped a light hand onto his shoulder. “Don’t worry! We’ll do great!”

 

* * *

 

The Sibunas had agreed not to act immediately, in fear of drawing attention to themselves. The following day was a Saturday, which allowed for an ample opportunity with the spare time to make up for what of it they’d lost. They chose to make both their goals in one fell swoop.

 

Midoriya had gone alone to visit Toshinori, but not before unlocking the oven passage into the cellar for the others- it wouldn’t lock again without the eye, but it could still be closed behind them to avoid suspicion.

 

“Surprise, surprise.” Todoroki huffed as he clicked the light switch on. Everything that had been missing from the cellar before was all back in place- every beaker, every bottle, and every bundle of stuffed animal skin. Some other things were new, but just as strange; along one of the tables was a line of balance scales- ten, exactly, empty and even. “He may be creepy, but he’s good.”

 

“Eugh.” Uraraka shuddered. “Even the cat.” she pointed over to the wooden stool. “That’s the one Mina saw.”

 

“It’s clearly a different cat, then.” Tsuyu circled the stool. “It looks much different, too, when you look closely. Can’t blame her for freaking out, though.”

 

“Right, then,” Iida said, as he cleared his throat. “We know why we’re here. Let’s get searching.” The four split up, aiming to cover more ground quicker. Several glass bottles lay scattered around, some even still left open.

 

“Looks like Aizawa  _ has  _ been busy,” Todoroki commented.

 

“Which one is it?” Uraraka approached his side.

 

“Er… this one, I think.” Todoroki reached for one, filled very little with a deep orange colored liquid. It certainly matched what they’d seen- what little of it they had, anyway.

 

“Are you sure?”

 

“As I can be. It looks the same.”

 

_ Bzzzt.  _ The dusty array of incandescent light bulbs that littered the ceiling fizzled out.

 

“I-It’s okay.” Iida lit up a flashlight. “Here.”

 

_ Ba-dump. _

 

“W-What was that?”

 

“I-I don’t wanna stay down here any more!” Uraraka shuddered. “We’ve got what we need, can we just go?” The others nodded. Tiptoeing quickly around the corner of the cellar wall, the group ascended their way from the cellar, leaving it in relative silence.

 

_ Ba-dump! Thump. _

 

... _ relative. _

 

Sero gasped for air as he and Kaminari stumbled from the cupboard. “Holy shit, dude,” he said. “Mina was right.”

 

* * *

 

Midoriya poured two cups of tea- one for Toshinori, and one for himself. He was recognized as something of a regular at the rest home these days. Toshinori may have been his only end, usually, but other residents and even employees were always happy to see such a bright young boy visiting the old place so voluntarily. The best of the news to him was that Toshinori seemed to be having more of a lucid day. He sat down together with him in his room, hoping to ease him into a conversation.

 

“Hey, Toshinori?” he started, as he passed the cup over to him.

 

“Yes, Izuku?” 

 

“Did your mom or dad ever talk to you about, um… an elixir?”

 

“An… elixir?”

 

“Yeah, uh, but not, like, the kind you would buy from a pharmacy, or something.” Izuku set his cup down in front of him. “I mean, a kind that would give you… eternal life?”

 

Toshinori frowned. “I don’t want to live forever.”

 

“Right, and that’s totally okay. But, do you know people who do? People who would want to live forever?”

 

He looked down for a moment. “I…” he trailed off. “Oh, I had a visitor the other day,” he said. Midoriya thought the tone in his voice suggested it was less of a reply, and more of a subject change. “Now, what was his name..?”

 

Midoriya hesitated. “Was it, uh… Shigaraki?”

 

“Yes, that’s it. Shimura.”

 

_ Shimura? That wasn’t even what he said.  _ “Er… how do you know this man, exactly?”

 

“Well, we used to play together when we were small.” He smiled.

 

Midoriya also smiled, sympathetically. “I think you’re getting confused. Shiga- er, Shimura, is a lot younger than you.” He was blunt, but he knew it was true.

 

“He was such a sweet boy.” Toshinori took a slow, slightly shaky sip of his tea.

 

Midoriya blinked. He decided to try and change the subject as well. There were still other questions he’d hoped to ask. Moving carefully, he reached into his bag and pulled out the photograph he’d held on to.

 

“Toshinori..?” he slid the picture across the table. “Do you recognize this man?”

 

He stopped, suddenly. His calm, docile aura had fell into one of horror. 

 

“T-That’s him!” he gasped, shaking. “Oh, no, no, no, it’s  _ him!” _

 

“Toshinori?”

 

“He means to do it, child!” Toshinori looked up, right into Midoriya’s eyes. “He wants to tip the scales of life!” he wheezed.

 

“It’s okay, Toshinori, please calm down! Everything’s alright!”

 

“He’s the one. He killed them!” Midoriya’s eyes widened. “Now he wants to stay forever!” Toshinori cried. “But you  _ must  _ stop him!”

 

Midoriya couldn’t believe anything he was hearing. “Aizawa..?”

 

* * *

 

“Do you idiots fucking see anything?” Bakugou called down the stairs.

 

“Yeah, dude,” Kaminari replied. “Everything!”

 

“All that stuff the girls were talking about is true!” Sero agreed.

 

“But do you see anything that could be related to Kirishima?” 

 

He clicked his tongue. “I, uh… don’t think so?”

 

“Stop, rewind.” Kaminari twirled his index fingers around each other, to symbolize his phrase. “What were  _ they  _ doing down here?

 

“They?” came Bakugou’s voice, questioningly.

 

“The other five,” Sero clarified. “Once we got down here, they just kind of… appeared? Out of nowhere? How did they even get down here, if you were at the door the whole time?”

 

“Maybe they crawled in through a window?” Kaminari suggested.

 

Bakugou scoffed. “Fuckin’ probably. What were they doing?”

 

“I don’t know, we couldn’t see ‘em,” Kaminari said. “We were a  _ little  _ busy hiding.”

 

“Their conversation was really vague,” Sero added. “All I could hear was that they were looking for something, but I don’t know what.”

 

_ Click.  _ Behind him, Bakugou heard the front door unlock.

 

“Shit! He’s back, get up here!”

 

Sero groaned in frustration, racing up the stairs. Kaminari, still behind him, tripped over his feet as he scrambled towards them.

 

“Dude, c’mon!” Sero called.

 

“I’m coming, I’m coming!” Kaminari just started up as the front door started to open.

 

Bakugou scoffed. “Sorry, dude,” he said, as he slammed the door shut.

 

“H-Hey!”

 

“Bakugou! What the hell!?” Sero elbowed him hard.

 

“You fuckin’ want him to catch us again?”

 

“What’s all the noise?” Aizawa grunted, closing the front door behind him. 

 

“U-Uh..?”

 

“You should know better than to be loitering in the hallway. Go.” Aizawa shooed them.

 

Hesitantly, Bakugou and Sero walked away, both cursing under their breath.

 

* * *

 

“I say we give it to the police,” Iida stated. “Perhaps they can have it analyzed.” 

 

“We can’t just do that!” Uraraka said. “What are we even gonna say? ‘Hey, we’re a group of high school students, and we think we’ve found the elixir of eternal life! Can you check it out for us? Pretty please and thanks!’”

 

Tsuyu nodded. “Ochako’s right. Besides, we all promised when we formed the Sibuna club that we’d protect the secrets, right? For now, we need to hide it.”

 

“I know.” Todoroki reached into his backpack, and took out his water bottle. He twisted it open, downing the entirety of its contents. “Give it here.” taking the glass vial from Iida, he undid the cork, and poured the potent substance into the empty bottle. Screwing the lid back on, he stuffed the opaque, unsuspecting bottle back away into his bag. “There. Now we just need to hear back from-”

 

 _Knock, knock._ Midoriya stepped into the bedroom. “Hey, guys.”

 

“Hey!” 

 

“Did the visit go well?”

 

He shrugged, sitting down with them. He recounted the conversation he’d had with Toshinori, describing how he claimed to know his other visitor, and how he’d recognized the picture of Aizawa.

 

“He definitely knew him,” Midoriya said. “It was… kind of scary. He said that he killed them.”

 

“His parents?”

 

“Well, I think that’s what he meant.”

 

Todoroki sighed. “It’s just too creepy to even think. I mean, Aizawa, alive? When Toshinori was a little boy?”

 

“Did he say anything about the elixir?” Uraraka asked.

 

“No, just that same weird thing about tipping scales. I have no idea what that even means.”

 

“So what about the riddle, then?” Iida inquired.

 

“Oh, Tsuyu and I were gonna go again later to see what we could find. But we’re still a little lost on ‘where yesterday follows tomorrow’.” Uraraka tapped her chin. “What does  _ that  _ mean?”

 

* * *

 

Kaminari shivered against the stone wall. Sero and Bakugou hadn’t come back for him yet, and there was no way he could find to let himself out. The door and windows both locked from the outside, and he knew he couldn’t just risk knocking on the door and getting Aizawa’s attention. Worse yet, he could only sit and watch as the 1% symbol on his phone screen dropped to zero.

 

He was completely isolated.

 

To him, the minutes seemed to turn to hours, and as actual hours passed, the cellar only got colder and darker. He could faintly hear the rustling voices of his roomates the floor up, each time overshadowed by Aizawa’s own, as he demanded they get ready for bed. He even heard Aizawa as he proclaimed the same speech at ten that night.

 

“It’s ten o’clock,” he called out, as always. “You have five minutes precisely, and then I want to be able to hear a pin drop.”

 

Kaminari did, in fact, hear the light clink of the pin echo through silence.

 

Shifting in his spot, he watched the top of the stairs, hoping and hoping for the door to open. When it finally did, he jumped, slightly.

 

“Sero? Bakugou?” he whispered. The figure didn’t respond, Kaminari just watched its tall shadow descend along the wall, while several others followed it.

 

Scrambling, quietly, he darted straight into the cupboard that he and Sero had hidden in just earlier that day. Pulling his knees up to his chest, he tried to catch his breath, easing into the silence.

 

Then, the voices started.

 

_ “We pledge ourselves to the Ankh.” _

 

He opened his eyes, gently easing the cupboard door open to a crack.

 

_ “We pledge ourselves to eternity.” _

 

He cowered in terror, and yet he could not take his eyes away from what he watched.

 

_ “We pledge ourselves to the Ankh.” _

 

_ “We pledge ourselves to eternity.” _

 

* * *

 

It was hardly six in the morning before Sero and Bakugou could even try to go back down. After they had assured her of what they’d seen the day before, Ashido had gone down with them as well.

 

“Kaminari?” Sero whispered. “Kaminari?”

 

“Is even he still down here?” Ashido whispered.

 

“Do you see any other fucking way out?” Bakugou growled. “Kaminari, where are you, dumbass? I swear, if you’re fucking around...”

 

_ Thump _

 

Right away, they all turned to the source of the sound. Sero pointed. “T-That cupboard. That’s the one we hid in yesterday.”

 

Bakugou shushed him. Kneeling over the door, he knocked once lightly, and again twice. Then, he yanked the door open.

 

“Kaminari!”

 

“H… Help me…” Kaminari was breathing heavily, curled up in a ball in the small space.

 

“Come on, we need to get him out of here.” Sero hoisted him up from under his arms. “Come on!”

 

* * *

 

“Is he alright?” Midoriya asked. 

 

“He still hasn’t said anything.” Sero could only watch with the other boys as Kaminari tossed and turned in his bed, sweating profusely.

 

“He’s catatonic.” Iida tried to gently lay a hand on his shoulder, only for him to jerk away violently. “What do you think he saw down there?”

 

“Kaminari.” Todoroki leaned over him, as he jerked again. “Cut it out. You need to snap out of this.”

 

“He won’t wake up if you try it that way!” Iida chastised him.

 

“K-Kaminari?” Midoriya tried. He gasped, shaking yet again, staring straight up at him. “What did you see down there? What scared you?”

 

Kaminari rolled onto his back, breathing heavily again. “S-Saw…I saw..!”

 

“Kaminari!”

 

“He’s hyperventilating!” Iida said. “Todoroki, go get him some water!” He nodded, rushing out of the room.

 

“Kaminari, calm down!” Sero tried to stabilize him.

 

“U-Uh, here!” Midoriya reached over to the closest thing he could grab- Todoroki’s bag, which he’d left on the floor in his rush. He grabbed his water bottle, offering it to Kaminari. “Here!”

 

“Midoriya, wait!”

 

Rasping, Kaminari snatched the bottle, and greedily chugged from it. Not a second later, he started to gag, harshly.

 

Todoroki had just entered the room again. “Midoriya, did you give him that?”

 

“W-What?”

 

“That’s not water!”

 

Horrified, Midoriya turned pale as he watched Kaminari gag again, and hunch over to stain the inside of his wastepaper bin red.

 

“Kaminari!”

 

* * *

 

The ambulance arrived in no less than five minutes. Kaminari, unconscious, was escorted out the door attached to a respirator.

 

“Is he going to be okay?” Sero begged the paramedic.

 

“We’re not sure, yet. We need to know, though, has he taken anything recently?”

 

“He, uh…” Midoriya fished the bottle from his pocket. “He took a sip of this just before he collapsed.”

 

The paramedic took the bottle, untwisting the lid and giving it a sniff, contorting her face in disgust. “Hmm, that doesn’t smell good. I’d better take this with me.”

 

Aizawa stood in the doorway, ready to follow right behind her. “I’ll be going in the ambulance with him,” he said, as he took out his keys. “But none of you are to leave this house until I find out  _ exactly  _ what happened.” He shut the door in their faces, the lock shifting into place with a resounding click.

 

* * *

 

“I…” Midoriya stuttered, choked up, when he was alone with the group. “I gave him the elixir..?”

 

“We forgot to tell you we’d hidden it in there…” Todoroki was just as visibly upset.

 

“And now it’s gone…” Tsuyu also lamented.

 

Midoriya sniffled. “Maybe… maybe we should just let it be.”

 

Uraraka raised an eyebrow. “What?”

 

“Maybe we should just get rid of it completely- it’s been nothing but bad!”

 

“We can’t do that! What about the proof?”

 

“But it’s already put our friend in the hospital!” Midoriya cried. “And it’s all my fault. I’m just… not sure anymore. About  _ any  _ of this.”

 

“Midoriya…” Todoroki tried to comfort him. “It’s not your fault. I should’ve told you right away.”

 

“It’s not even just that…” He wiped one of his many tears. “Don’t you understand? If I hadn’t taken the locket, if- if I hadn’t gotten you guys wrapped up in this… if I hadn’t taken that stupid scholarship, none of this would’ve happened!”

 

“Midoriya, please don’t talk like that!”

 

“No!” Midoriya shook his head. “No… I just… I can’t do this anymore.” he reached around his neck, pulling the eye of Horus locket off of himself, and dropped it into Todoroki’s hand as he stood up to leave the room. “I’m sorry, you guys,” he said. “I’m out.”

  
  



	12. The Show Must Go On

“Drain cleaner?” Ashido questioned, as she sat down at the table. “Kaminari swallowed drain cleaner?”

 

“Yes, that’s what the hospital said.” At lunchtime that same day, Aizawa had returned to deliver an update regarding Kaminari. “Perhaps one of you would like to enlighten us on how exactly that happened?”

 

“Pass,” Bakugou scoffed.

 

Aizawa rolled his eyes. “He’s out of critical condition now, and it’s been cleared with his doctor that he can have no more than three visitors.”

 

Immediately, Sero grabbed onto Ashido’s and Bakugou’s hands. “We’ll go,” he said.

 

“Fine, just be sure to sign out,” Aizawa replied, waving them off without a care.

 

* * *

 

“The only place where yesterday always follows tomorrow..?” Todoroki paced around the living room. “What is it, what is it?”

 

“Uraraka and Tsuyu are searching now,” Iida said. “We’ve gone through most of the books… what if it’s not a book, after all… Midoriya?”

 

“Hey,” Midoriya said, reluctantly. “I said I’m out, remember?”

 

Todoroki looked over at him. “R-Right…”

 

“Sorry, guys.” He flipped through his notebook. “Besides, I’ve got a lot of Egypt on my plate, already. Uraraka and I have to turn in the rest of this script by tomorrow, and we’ve still got a whole act left to complete.”

 

“Of course, sorry.” Iida shifted in his seat.

 

“Hey,” Uraraka said, as she hopped over the couch to sit next to him. “We’re still kinda lost.”

 

“We must’ve read through every book in there.” Tsuyu shook her head. “Nothing.”

 

“Strange…” Iida rubbed his chin. “If it’s not there, then we’ll have to investigate even more diligently than ever.”

 

Uraraka groaned, burying her face in her hands. “Don’t confuse us with your fancy words, Iida, my brain hurts from reading so much.”

 

“They’re in the dictionary, Uraraka, they’re not _that_ fancy…”

 

“Hmm…” Midoriya slowed his pencil. “In the dictionary…” Suddenly, he dropped his notebook, jumping up from the couch. “That’s it!”

 

“Midoriya?”

 

The green-haired boy ran over to the living room bookshelf. He ran his finger along the shelf, and pulled out a paperback dictionary. “The word ‘yesterday’ comes after the word ‘tomorrow’ alphabetically!”

 

Todoroki gasped. “Where yesterday always follows tomorrow! A dictionary!” He ran up to Midoriya, pulling him into a hug and spinning him around. “You genius, genius, genius boy!” he laughed.

 

Midoriya also laughed, but stopped suddenly as he freed himself from Todoroki’s embrace. “O-Okay, that happened… b-but, I’m still out, you guys.” he shrugged. “Sorry,” he said, as he sat back down, trying to face away from them.

 

“So,” Tsuyu said, drawing out the vowel, “The clue means a dictionary?”

 

“N-Not just any dictionary,” Iida reminded. “A leather bound and clasped dictionary.”

 

“Do you want to help us look for it, Midoriya?” Uraraka asked.

 

“Uh…” Midoriya tried to avoid looking at them. “I’ve… got to finish these next few scenes. Sorry, but, good luck.” he stood back up again, and left the room.

 

Todoroki sighed. “Midoriya…”

 

* * *

 

Kaminari’s hospital room wasn’t hard to find- even through the gentle evening commotion of the hospital hallways, the three of them felt themselves drawn to muffled 8-bit music. Ashido had to stifle her giggle as she peeked from behind the curtain, watching as he tapped away at his Game Boy like his life depended on it. As soon as he heard the trio’s footsteps, he stuffed the device under his blanket.

 

“Yo, what’s up?” Ashido chimed in.

 

Kaminari coughed. “Oh, you know, been better.”

 

“Save it, you big dummy!” Sero laughed. “We could hear you and your Pokémon from all the way out there.”

 

“You holding up okay, dumbass?” Bakugou grumbled. Ashido elbowed him, Sero rolled his eyes, smiling, and Kaminari shrugged.

 

“Seriously, though,” Kaminari said, “I am feeling kinda better than before.”

 

“You remember anything from the cellar?” Bakugou quizzed.

 

Kaminari frowned. “I, uh… don’t remember anything, actually.”

 

“Come on, don’t give us that.”

 

“Seriously, I don’t. Total blank.”

 

“Bakugou,” Ashido chastised, elbowing him again. “Here, go buy him some chocolate, or something.” She fished some change out of her pocket, and dropped it into his open palm.

 

Kaminari perked up. “Ooh, chocolate?”

 

Bakugou simply grumbled, walking out the door around someone else as she walked in.

 

“Looking good, Kaminari.” The short doctor smiled, stepping around to his bed.

 

“Always do, Dr. Shuzenji,” Kaminari joked.

 

She leaned over his bed, putting a thermometer into his mouth. “I think it’s safe to say we’ll be saying goodbye to you before long.”

 

“So, uh, what was the official diagnosis?” Sero asked.

 

Shuzenji hummed. “Well, as I’m sure you know, he had quite a nasty morning in the ER. Toxicology traced the fluid in that water bottle back to a brand of drain cleaner.”

 

“Eugh,” Ashido shuddered in disgust. “That sounds awful.”

 

“Oh, I’m sure it was. As if that wasn’t bad enough, apparently he suffered a severe allergic reaction to something in it. The EMTs said that the smell alone sent him into another gagging fit in the ambulance.” As she spoke, she moved to change his IV. “However, the cleaner in that bottle was significantly diluted, so whatever effect it would’ve had straight from the package, he avoided. He’s a very lucky boy.”

 

“So that means the worst is over, right?”

 

“We think so, yes, but he’ll need to stay a little longer for observation. We’re still not quite sure if the cleaner left any major damage to his organs, but his outlook is pretty good.”

 

Sero wiped his eye. “Thank you, so much.”

 

“Just doing my job,” she said, with another smile. She turned to Kaminari. “Now then, keep that in there, I’ll be back in a few minutes.”

 

‘M’kay,” Kaminari mumbled, with the thermometer still between his lips.

 

* * *

 

Midoriya had retreated to his bedroom, headphones on and the world tuned out as he continued the script writing. Try as he may, though, he still couldn’t avoid the others for long- it was still Todoroki and Iida’s bedroom too.

 

“I’m just… really worried about him,” Todoroki whispered to Iida. “It’s not like him to close himself off this way.”

 

“I imagine he’s still upset about what happened with Kaminari,” Iida replied. “I’ve just heard from Sero, actually, and he says that he’s in much better condition now.”

 

“That’s good.” Todoroki sighed, stealing a glance toward Midoriya. “Still though, he’s being way too hard on himself.”

 

From the bedroom door came a knock, and in came Uraraka and Tsuyu, with excited looks on their faces. Tsuyu was holding both her hands behind her back. Midoriya looked up for a moment, catching their eyes, and immediately he averted his own.

 

“Did you two find anything?” Iida asked.

 

“Well, we went back under the stairs one more time. We _were_ searching for an old Japanese dictionary, or even an English one, and nothing turned up. But then Tsu suggested we try looking for an _Arabic_ dictionary, and..!”

 

“Ta-da!” Tsuyu revealed her hands, both of which were holding an incredibly bulky book, trimmed with an ornate golden font on the cover. “It’s leather, it’s got clasps, and somewhere in here, yesterday follows tomorrow! We’re golden!”

 

“That’s fantastic!” Todoroki remarked with enthusiasm. Instinctively, he looked over to Midoriya. He was looking up again, but ducked his head back down as soon as their eyes met. Todoroki’s face also fell.

 

“There’s… just one problem, though,” Uraraka added. “We can’t get the clasps open.”

 

“The thing’s bolted shut.” Tsu also held up a fork, which had been bent at a perfect ninety-degree angle. “It won’t budge.”

 

“Hey, Todoroki, perhaps the locket might be the key here?” Iida suggested. “It’s opened stuff before.”

 

“Good idea.” Todoroki took out the eye of Horus from his pocket, where he’d kept it ever since Midoriya gave it to him. “Let me just…” He lined up the eye with one of the clasps, trying his hardest to push them together. “That’s weird. Why isn’t it working?”

 

“May I?” Iida opened his hand, to which Todoroki obliged. Iida did just the same as Todoroki had, met with the same resistance. “Hmm, Todoroki’s right, it's not working. It feels like pushing two of the same poles of a magnet together.”

 

“Uh, H-Here, let me try.” Midoriya spoke up, suddenly, moving to sit next to Todoroki. As soon as Midoriya reached for the locket, the eye lit up a bright flash of green.

 

“Woah!”

 

“Huh?” Midoriya dropped it in surprise, back into Iida’s hand.

 

“That was… strange.” Iida handed it back to Midoriya, and the light started up again.

 

Midoriya leaned over to the dictionary, still clasped shut. Slowly, he moved the two together, and the green light seemed to flicker as the locket made contact. It was almost as if the eye blinked. Doing the same with the other clasp, both of them flipped open abruptly.

 

“The locket only works for Midoriya…” Uraraka smiled in awe. “Spooky.”

 

“I-I, uh…” Midoriya stuttered again, dropping the locket back into Todoroki’s hands.

 

“Midoriya,” Todoroki said, turning to face him. “Toshinori gave this locket to _you,_ not to me. Do you think maybe there’s a reason for that?”

 

“I…”

 

“He trusts you, you know. And we trust you too, Midoriya. _I_ trust you.”

 

Midoriya completely avoided eye contact, mumbling something under his breath.

 

Todoroki raised an eyebrow. “Sorry, I didn’t quite catch that, what did you say?”

 

Suddenly, Midoriya grabbed on to Todoroki, embracing him in a hug. “I said… I’m sorry for what I said earlier. I’m… I’m sorry if I let you guys down.”

 

Todoroki smiled. “Hey, it’s alright… you were just scared. But you could never let us down.”

 

Midoriya laughed into his shoulder, now damp with a few tears.

 

“Awww,” the other three cooed.

 

“Who doesn’t love a happy ending?” Tsu giggled.

 

“Yeah! Team Sibuna is back together!” Uraraka cheered.

 

“Good to have you back, Midoriya,” Iida nodded.

 

“Okay, okay!” Midoriya laughed again.

 

“Here.” Todoroki reached over the other boy’s shoulders, clasping the eye of Horus back around his neck and moving some of his hair out from under the chain.

 

“T-Thanks…” Midoriya blushed. “Okay, let’s see what’s inside this thing!” He said, grinning with anticipation.

 

On the count of three, they reached for the cover and opened it together. Upon opening the hefty book, they were met with yet another surprise- a massive, rectangular hole had been cut through the center of all the pages, from cover to cover.

 

“Nothing!?” Todoroki exclaimed.

 

Shocked, Midoriya slowly closed the cover again. “Nothing…”

 

* * *

 

Bakugou had gone all the way back to the ground floor of the hospital, to the gift shop, to get some treats for Kaminari. For a Sunday evening, he found it awfully busy, but he still got the job done. The hallways back on Kaminari’s floor had and even bigger crowd, and yet, he still pinpointed the familiar face amongst it.

 

Gasping, he ducked behind another corridor. Shigaraki sat idly in a wheelchair, head lulled to one side, as if he hadn’t even been awake since the last time he’d seen him. He was being pushed by the very same doctor he’d seen go into Kamnari’s room.

 

When he turned his head to look again, he saw Dr. Shuzenji had stopped to converse with a colleague. Leaving the unconscious man be, the two stepped into a nearby room.

 

Seeing his chance, Bakugou ran on over. “Shigaraki?” he gave his cheek a faint slap, and his head perked up slowly. “Shigaraki, what did they do to you?” He merely groaned, and dropped his head again.

 

Bakugou scoffed. Looking over both his sides, the hallway was far less crowded than before, and the doctor was still busy. The elevators were straight ahead. With one hand, he dug his cellphone out, and started the wheelchair again with the other. The line picked up just as the elevator went down.

 

“Oi, Deku, it’s me. I need your help.”

 

* * *

 

When she had returned, Shuzenji had her own phone call to make.

 

“Hello?”

 

“It’s me,” she sighed. “Shimura’s gone.”

 

“What do you mean, he’s _gone?_ How?”

 

“I don’t know, Aizawa, I turned my back for one moment, and when I look back he’s disappeared!”

 

He growled out a sigh. “Just find him!”

 

* * *

 

He was in the school’s bike shed.

 

“You stole a patient!?” Midoriya fretted. “Are you actually crazy!?”

 

“I couldn’t leave him in the hospital!” Bakugou barked. “I don’t fucking know what Aizawa’s done to him!”

 

Shigaraki groaned. “W...Where..?”

 

“Shigaraki!” Bakugou shook him by the shoulders. “It’s me, Bakugou.”

 

“Bakugou..?” he repeated. “What… happened?”

 

“I don’t know! We saw Aizawa kidnap you, and then I found you in the hospital.”

 

His eyes widened. “R-Right, that’s right…”

 

He grunted. “He must’ve thought you were close to finding Kirishima.”

 

“Kirishima..?” Midoriya blinked. “Kacchan, what are you talking about?”

 

Bakugou ignored him. “Do you think he’s hidden him somewhere, like he did with you?”

 

“Oh, I am very convinced that he’s hidden him, yes.” Shigaraki was slowly coming to.

 

“And you said that his locket might have something do with it?”

 

“Wait, what!?” Midoriya stuttered.

 

“Ah,” Shigaraki said, with a smile. “You must be the boy with the locket.”

 

“Y-Yeah..? I'm Midoriya, Hi.”

 

“May I see it?” he leaned forward suddenly.

 

“No!” Midoriya stumbled back, putting his hand over his chest. “Uh, n-no, sorry. I was told not to show anyone.”

 

Still smiling, he raised an eyebrow. “Let me guess, by Toshinori Yagi?”

 

Midoriya felt a chill. “Y-Yeah, how did you know that?”

 

“Oh, he’s a friend of mine.” Shigaraki spoke quickly, and rather dismissively. “And you must give it back to him.”

 

“W-Why’s that?”

 

“Well, because the locket is cursed.”

 

 _“Cursed?”_ Bakugou butted in, skeptically. “The fuck?”

 

“Well, before Toshinori had it, he-” He trailed off, suddenly. “-he was a very bright and wonderful man, and you never should’ve stolen it.”

 

“But I didn’t steal it!” Midoriya defended, hand still over his heart. “He gave it to me. It was a gift.”

 

Shigaraki rolled his eyes. “He’s a confused old man, and he didn’t know what he was doing.” he reached forward. “I mean, _I_ can give it back if you like-”

 

“No!” Midoriya said louder, stepping back further.

 

“Deku!” Bakugou growled.

 

“You know, strictly speaking, the locket isn’t yours.”

 

“Well, it isn’t yours, either.”

 

Shigaraki stood up slowly walking towards the door. “Fine, then. I meant what I said, though. The all-seeing eye of Horus is an _evil_ eye.”

 

“Shigaraki, what the hell?”

 

“B-But…” Midoriya stammered. “I thought the eye of Horus was an Egyptian symbol of protection?”

 

“Maybe,” He said, as he backed out the door. “But is it protecting good? Or evil?”

 

* * *

 

“Do you see anything?” Iida asked.

 

“No…” Todoroki flipped through the cut pages of the dictionary. “Nothing yet.” Even with lights out only some minutes away, Todoroki was determined to find something- anything that pointed to the next clue.

 

“Here, try this.” Iida offered him a penlight. “It’s rather old and grimy, maybe there’s something we’re just not seeing.”

 

“Hey...” Midoriya greeted, trudging into the room.

 

“Hey, Midoriya.” Todoroki waved. “You okay? If you’re still worried...”

 

“Uh- n-no, I’m fine. I’m just kinda tired, it’s been a long day.” Midoriya was still unsettled by his meeting with Shigaraki- and yet, he didn’t how to even begin to tell the other Sibunas about it.

 

“Hmm,” Iida peered closer to the ruined book. “I still don’t see anything in here. Whatever was in here must be long gone.”

 

“Wait, wait, wait,” Todoroki waved his hand. “What’s that?”

 

“Hm?” Midoriya leaned over his shoulder. On the matte surface of the back cover, inside the paper hole, the light seemed to reflect off of several tiny, specific spots.

 

“Ah, it seems there _is_ something in there,” Iida said. “It looks like… letters?”

 

“Hey!” Midoriya bounced up. “I’ll bet that’s invisible ink!” He hurried over to his backpack, rifling out a keychain from his lanyard. He clicked a button, and a small LED bulb flashed violet.

 

“Oh, a blacklight!”

 

“Yeah, let’s try it!” Midoriya flashed the tiny light over the book, and sure enough, the hidden writing appeared to them in fluorescent letters. Todoroki read them off.

 

_“Under the eyes of Horus, a globe and hollow lie_

_Two right for eternity, but just one left to die.”_

 

“Uh…” Midoriya thought out loud. “The panel in the attic is a kind of hollow, right? There’s an eye of Horus there, too.”

 

Todoroki shook his head, standing up from the bed. “That’s not the only one.”

 

* * *

 

He led him downstairs, tiptoeing the whole way.

 

“Oh, do you mean the oven? I guess that’s also a hollow, and it does have an eye of Horus…”

 

“No not that either. It said _eyes_ of Horus, not just eye.” Todoroki waved his arm out along the railing. “Look.”

 

“Oooh! The eyes!” Midoriya remembered when he’d first pointed out the design in the banister to him. “Under the _eyes_ of Horus, a globe and hollow lie.”

 

“Midoriya?” Todoroki pointed his flashlight above them. At the very end of the railing, where the stairs turned out onto the ground floor, it had a decorative sphere affixed onto it. _A globe!_

 

Midoriya knocked on the globe. “It’s definitely hollow.”

 

“Okay.” Todoroki grabbed onto it with both hands. “Two right for eternity, but just one left to die. What do you think that means?”

 

“Hmm…” Midoriya tapped his lip. “If we turn it to the right, we get ‘eternity,’ but if we turn it left, it must lock, or something.”

 

Todoroki nodded. “And then the secret’s left to die...”

 

Midoriya took a deep breath, and placed his hands over Todoroki’s. He was startled by the bold contact, for a second, but settled into it. He was lucky his red face was somewhat hidden in the dark. “Okay, fingers crossed,” Midoriya said. “Two turns to the right. One…”

 

Together, they twisted the globe counter-clockwise. The groan of polished wood scraping across itself echoed in the hallway.

 

“Two…” They moved again, and a snap loosened the globe off completely, Pulling it away, the flashlights under their arms reflected across yet another golden, hieroglyphic covered object chained to the bottom of it.

 

“And it’s another strange shaped object,” Todoroki said, smirking. He snapped the chain off of it, and pulled it closer to their faces. It was a small, thin object, the size of his palm. It was vaguely rectangular, with rounded corners, one edge concaved inwards, and roll of numbers on the opposite edge that spun like a combination lock. "What do we have here?”

 

“Yes, what _do_ you have there?” a dreary, familiar voice called, followed by steady footsteps.

 

_Oh, fuck._

 

“M-Mr. Aizawa?”

 

“Give,” he said, visibly apathetic, when he reached the bottom of the stairs, and took the object away from Todoroki. Both boys were too shocked to argue, or protest. “I’ll decide on your punishments in the morning, now get to bed.”

 

Heads hung low, they trudged up the stairs. Midoriya went slower, glancing back at Aizawa as he turned the square over in his hands.

 

“What..?” he heard him whisper. “What is this..? It’s not possible…” Aizawa clenched his fists. “No… _No!”_

 

Midoriya fled back up the stairs.

 

* * *

 

Kaminari had been discharged from the hospital, deemed in perfect health once again, early the next morning. Naturally, he was welcomed back by his peers with open arms- arms that all entrapped him in a big, monster sized hug. His release was early enough that, with haste, he’d made it into school with them just on time. He never thought he’d hear himself say it, but, Kaminari could not _wait_ go to class. Neither could anyone else in Anubis House- today was a special day for more than one reason.

 

“Okay, everyone, time to focus!” Yamada clapped. “We have a big week ahead of us!” Monday afternoon Drama class had brought with it the announcement of the Friday night performance of the school play- a one night show students could invite their families to see. “First off, I’m happy to announce that the script is complete, courtesy of Uraraka and Midoriya!”

 

“No problem!” Uraraka said. “It was really fun to write!”

 

“Yeah,” Midoriya blushed.

 

Yamada started passing around copies. “Now then, I was hoping we could start by having our roles assigned. Uraraka, Midoriya, would you like to help pick?”

 

“Oh, okay.” Midoriya stood up with her. “W-Well,” he started to mutter, “The lead role is for the Egyptian god, Horus. I was thinking maybe somebody like Iida would work well, somebody who could pull off a brave, strong act, or- or maybe someone like-”

 

“Actually,” Uraraka spoke over him, “I thought about it while we were writing, and I think _you_ should play Horus, Midoriya!”

 

“Huh? W-Why’s that?”

 

“Well…” Uraraka winked at him, pointing at her collar. “I just think you’d play the part really well. Horus is a bit of an underdog in the story,” she explained to the class, “and he’s the main protagonist. I can’t really explain it, but I think someone like Midoriya could _totally_ rock that.” Some murmurs of agreement came from around the room.

 

“W-Well, uh… okay!” Midoriya agreed, with a sheepish smile.

 

“Alright!” Uraraka cheered. “Now, for every story’s protagonist-” she gestured to Midoriya, “-there’s also an antagonist, his exact opposite. For us, it's the Egyptian god Set, who’s fighting with Horus over who gets to be the king of Egypt.”

 

“I see,” Yamada chimed in. “We’ll need somebody who can act like the perfect opposite to Midoriya- someone who just _screams_ ‘conflict’!”

 

Every student’s eyes fell onto _him_ instantly.

 

Bakugou blinked. “Fine, whatever.”

 

* * *

 

“Uraraka, please tell me you didn’t just pick me to lead the _entire play_ just because of my locket.” Midoriya sat down with her and the other Sibunas after class.

 

“Well,” she insisted, “A little bit of both. I did mean what I said, but I still think it’s a bit of a sign, don’t you?”

 

“So, what’s this about another puzzle piece that Todoroki mentioned?” Tsuyu changed the subject.

 

“Oh, right.” Midoriya twiddled his thumbs. “Well, Todoroki and I went to follow the clue from the dictionary, but Aizawa caught us.”

 

Todoroki continued for him. “He took the puzzle piece we’d found. While we were heading back to our room, I saw him put it in his safebox.”

 

“Then, we just break into his safe and get it back, right?” Uraraka suggested.

 

“We can’t do that!” Iida chided. “He’d immediately suspect Todoroki and Midoriya.”

 

“But what if…” Midoriya looked up. “What if we had the perfect alibi?”

 

“What do you mean?”

 

“I have an idea. It’s a little crazy, but it just might work.”

 

* * *

 

“What do you mean, there’s more than one relic?” Kayama demanded.

 

“I confiscated another one from Izuku Midoriya and Shouto Todoroki last night.” Aizawa paced about the principal’s office, deep in thought.

 

“But- But the markings on it! You said it yourself, you were so sure that-!”

 

“That we were in the possession of the Ankh itself,” he interrupted. “Yes, I recall.”

 

“But why not?” Nezu queried.

 

Aizawa sighed. “It’s only one piece. There are more.”

 

“Aizawa…” Kayama cautioned him. “The chosen hour is approaching, fast.”

 

“Do you think I’m not aware of that?” he snapped back. “We have something else to worry about right now, anyway. Tenko Shimura has escaped from the hospital.”

 

* * *

 

_The U.A. Academy Drama Club Presents_

 

**_THE KINGS OF EGYPT_ **

_Written by Ochako Uraraka and Izuku Midoriya_

_Directed by Hizashi Yamada_

 

**STARRING**

 

 **IZUKU MIDORIYA** as **HORUS**

 **KATSUKI BAKUGOU** as **SET**

 **OCHAKO URARAKA** as **ISIS**

 **TENYA IIDA** as **OSIRIS**

 **TSUYU ASUI** as **NEPHTHYS**

 **SHOUTO TODOROKI** as **THOTH**

 **DENKI KAMINARI** as **GEB**

 **MINA ASHIDO** as **NUT**

Narration by **HANTA SERO**

 

* * *

 

The following school week carried out a steady rhythm; By day, the Sibunas rehearsed with their classmates for the imminent play, and articulated the plan for their rescue heist by night. Friday came faster than anyone could have anticipated.

 

“Alright, everyone, tonight is the night!” Yamada clapped, gaining the attention of the bustling backstage of the school’s larger theater. “Showtime is in less than ten minutes! I know a lot of you are very nervous, but I’m happy to say that I’ve received several good luck cards from your families!” Yamada waved a big stack of envelopes.

 

The students were joyful as each envelope was passed around, as were comments of one’s family members and how happy they were to see them.

 

“The fuck?” Was all Bakugou said at his. Aside from the cheesy greeting card text, something was scribbled on with a marker. It _looked_ somewhat like letters, but none he could read. All that made sense to him on the card were two characters:

 

**D-1**

 

Rolling his eyes, he cast the card aside and went back to dressing his costume. Portraying the Egyptian god Set, Bakugou’s costume was provided to him as a linen kilt with a metallic belt, a beaded collar that covered his shoulders and part of his otherwise bare chest, bangles on his wrists, a prop scimitar, and temporary streaks of red dye in his stark blond hair. Uraraka had also made a passing comment about how Set apparently had red eyes in legend, naturally making Bakugou fit his role even more.

 

“Hey, Kacchan!” Midoriya called from over by the curtain. His outfit was a similar dress to Bakugou’s, with the addition of some feathers on his shoulders and back, some paint around his eyes, and his hair as natural and poofy as ever. “I think I see our parents in the audience!”

 

Bakugou nudged his own head over his, and peeked through the curtain. “Where? There’s too many fuckin’ people walking around.”

 

“Uh, row D, I think. It looks like seats 5, 6, and 7." Midoriya pointed, discreetly, where he could see Inko making light conversation with Masaru and Mitsuki over their copies of the playbill.

 

Bakugou squinted. “Wait, did you say row _D?”_

 

“Y-Yeah?”

 

“Who the fuck’s in seat 1, then?”

 

“Er… I don’t know. You’re right, it is pretty crowded out there. I can barely see-” Midoriya stopped, suddenly, and gasped.

 

“What?”

 

“Is that who I think it is?”

 

“What? Where?” Bakugou nearly shoved his face out the curtain trying to see where he pointed. Immediately, his eyes fell on the familiar man, arms crossed and wearing a cap.

 

“Shigaraki? The hell’s he doing here? What fucking seat is he in?”

 

“I-I can’t see…”

 

“Bakugou!” Yamada instructed. “Curtain’s up soon, get in your place please!”

 

“Hey, Midoriya!” Uraraka called, at the same time.

 

“Oh, coming!” Midoriya ran off.

 

Bakugou groaned, hurrying over to where Sero was, with Kaminari and Ashido preparing nearby. “Guys, can you see who’s in seat D-1?”

 

“Uh, why?”

 

“Just fuckin’ look!”

 

“I can’t see!” Sero fumbled with the curtain. “There’s too many people out there!”

 

“My good luck card,” Bakugou waved it at him. “Somebody left me a weird-ass message with that number on it!”

 

“Who do you think it is?”

 

“I-I don’t know, Shigaraki, maybe?”

 

“Bakugou!” Yamada demanded again. “You’re on in ten seconds! Go!”

 

Bakugou groaned again, louder, and stomped over to the center of the stage. He looked over again, and Sero had passed the message along to Kaminari and Ashido. All three were trying to peer through the curtain, carefully.

 

“Can you see who it is?”

 

Sero shrugged, mouthing at him with an irritated face.

 

“Five seconds!”

 

“Who is it!?”

 

“Bakugou, you’re on!”

 

“Three… two… one!”

 

Bakugou turned back around, watching as the curtains slowly parted before him. By now, the audience was almost entirely seated, and he had a bird’s eye view. Midoriya had said to him that their parents were in row D- using them as measurement, he followed the line along the seats. _Four, three, two…_

 

His eyes met those of the occupant of seat D-1, easily enough. He knew one thing for sure, it was _not_ Shigaraki. The figure was wearing a dark, navy blue hoodie- not that that was unusual for Shigaraki, but it _was_ for the one wearing it. He prefered a different color.

 

He sat low in his seat, his hood was pulled tight over his head, and his bright hair that normally stood spiked high on its ends lay flat across his forehead.

 

In desperation, Bakugou called out to him.

 

"KIRI!"

 


	13. Players and Pieces

Bakugou, alone on the stage, was dead silent- as was the rest of the auditorium.

 

Coupled with the fact that he’d already fucked up his _first_ line of dialogue, he’d also just yelled out the name of his missing boyfriend to couple hundred people. Including him. _And_ Aizawa. He could even see the scruffy man sit up in his back row seat, and look around the crowd. Kirishima, meanwhile, ducked even lower in his own seat, covering the look of fear on his face.

 

“U-Uh…” Bakugou hesitated, quietly. _What the fuck._

 

“Uh-oh,” Yamada commented. “Stage fright?”

 

“H-Hear me!” Bakugou yelled through the silence, in better control of his voice. _That sounded similar to ‘Kiri’, right? Maybe he could pass it off as a stutter._

 

“That’s… not in the script,” Yamada muttered, flipping through a couple pages. “What’s he doing?”

 

He looked around. He knew was wasting time at the rate he was going. There’d be plenty more of it later, if he kept focus. He took a deep breath, and did what he did best.

 

Bakugou opened his mouth and yelled, dramatically.

 

“Hear my tale of triumph over tyranny!” he acted out. “The one who ruled is gone, and sorrow sweeps the land! It shall now be _I_ who rules these sands, for Osiris is dead! May _no_ man who claims to be greater, be found before me!”

 

He took a bow, and stepped away with following applause. From the corners of his eyes, he caught those of Kirishima’s as he too clapped for him. His warm smile reassured him that, out there somewhere, he was still well- and hopefully, safe. Bakugou also caught sight of Shigaraki, also clapping, but more carelessly. His seat was much further away from Kirishima, and closer to the front. _Duly noted._

 

“Great work, Bakugou,” Yamada said, once he was off stage, “But, er, let's try to stay on script, okay?”

 

* * *

 

While Bakugou had performed his opening monologue, and Kaminari and Ashido went on stage for their expositional act, the Sibuna club watched from behind the scenes- literally- as they planned their next move.

 

“Okay,” Uraraka said, hurriedly. “From the top; the rest of us are on soon, but Midoriya’s not on until the very end of the second act.”

 

Midoriya nodded. “I saw Aizawa in the back of the audience- if he’s here, then Anubis House should be empty. I just have to sneak back in there and steal the puzzle piece back from his safe.”

 

“But how are you going to do that without the code?” Tsuyu asked.

 

Midoriya shrugged, demurely. “I won’t need it. I’ll just take the spare key from his box.”

 

“You’re going to risk stealing _another_ key from him?” Todoroki questioned. “Midoriya, are you sure about this?”

 

“Of course I’m sure,” he said, as he put his hoodie on over his costume. “If we don’t get the puzzle piece back, our treasure hunt is over. I promise I’ll be fast- in and out.”

 

Todoroki nodded. “Okay. Just be careful.”

 

Midoriya nodded. “Got it.”

 

“Good luck!” The other three called after him, as he sprinted off into the night.

 

* * *

 

_“The ancient, ethereal land of Egypt,”_ Sero narrated over the loudspeakers. _“The heart of the world, and the soul of its people.”_

 

As he spoke, the stage lights lit up to life with the royalty free Egyptian music. While Bakugou’s opening had been on a dark stage, the scenery and backdrop appeared under the golden colored glow. Most prominent were three tall cutouts resembling pyramids, towering above decorative palm trees, with the pyramid in the middle being taller than the rest. Above it, a large red disc representing the sun shined bright as well.

 

_“Born with the world, came first the great sun god- Ra. Not long did follow the land and the sky- the god Geb, and the goddess Nut.”_

 

Kaminari and Ashido danced onto stage, from opposite sides. Kaminari, portraying Geb, pranced around in his outfit of leaves and decorative rocks- an embodiment of the earth. Sero found it amazing how he could wear makeup depicting dirt in such an artistic, admirable way. Then again, Sero did admire a lot of things about Kaminari. Ashido, meanwhile, twirled about as she showed off her blue dress, shimmering with gold and silver flecks, personifying the starry night sky that Nut was patron of. She claimed to have taken the character role for a love of the aesthetic- which wasn’t totally wrong, but everyone else still could hear her holding back her laughter every time her name was said.

 

_“The two of them fell deeply in love, inseparable by the vast reaches of time.”_ Sero hesitated, slightly, as he narrated the next line. He watched as the two met, embracing in an elegant waltz. Ashido dipped Kaminari middance, a clever act on Uraraka’s part in writing to represent the sky above the earth. Finally, they stepped off stage together, as Sero continued.

 

_“Born from their passion, came four great children-”_ After flash of sudden light, and a puff from a fog machine, Uraraka appeared on the right side of the stage in her flowing white gown. _“Isis- goddess of life and magic, and a mother to the verdant land.”_ She raised her arms, revealing iridescent feathers sewn into the sleeves and sides to portray wings.

 

To her left, Iida soon appeared. _“Osiris- consort to Isis, as well as the loved and just ruler of Egypt.”_ Iida stood in a rigid stance, arms crossed over his chest, while holding a shepherd’s crook and grain flail.

 

Next was Tsuyu. _“Nephthys, sister to Isis, patron of homes and funeraries, and protector of souls departed into death.”_ she twirled on her heel, spinning her own dress- similar in shape to Uraraka’s, but lacking in the wings and given a slight green tint.

 

_“And her own consort, Set- god of chaos and storms, a being of unbridled fury.”_ The audience was, by now, familiar with Bakugou, even as he appeared to Tsuyu’s left. He slashed his prop scimitar through the air, as if to underline the narration. Though he acted out a wicked grin, he felt himself soften when he looked out into the audience. He made eye contact with Kirishima, who was smiling again.

 

The four stepped off stage in pairs- Uraraka with Iida, and Tsuyu with Bakugou. _“Osiris was the eldest of the four children- and so inherited the throne of Egypt from his father Geb. Praised by its people, Osiris sought to bring them to greatness- or, at least, that’s what he_ could _have done.”_

 

The lighting on the stage slowly dimmed into red. Iida suddenly appeared above the center pyramid, suspended by hidden wires, and given the illusion of flight. Bakugou, meanwhile, stomped across the stage.

 

_“Jealousy and envy were all that Set felt toward his elder brother, as he sought to become the king himself. One day, consumed with rage, the god transformed himself into an enormous monster-”_ Bakugou disappeared behind a cloud of fog, letting out a thunderous war cry as a beastly puppet monster rose up behind Iida, baring its fangs. The lights flashed suddenly, accompanied by a lightning sound effect, before they cut out altogether. _“-and violently killed Osiris.”_

 

The audience gasped in astonishment at both the special effects and the sudden turn of the story. A foreboding red glow took center stage, presenting Bakugou yet again. He was sprawled out on a throne, holding another new prop- a was-sceptre. _“With Osiris gone, it was Set who followed in royal succession- for Osiris had bore no children. Set ruled with a cold iron fist, and the people’s hope was ever lower…”_ As he banged the sceptre on the floor, the lights cut off again- marking the end of the the play’s first act.

 

* * *

 

The next act began immediately, starting with a poetic verse by Uraraka in which Isis tearfully lamented the loss of Osiris. Then, a scene with her and Tsuyu, where Nephthys encouraged Isis to find and revive him with her magic. While the two girls performed, Bakugou had huddled around with his friends backstage.

 

“What’s up?” Sero asked, muting his mic.

 

“You guys aren’t gonna fucking believe this- Kirishima’s in the audience!”

 

Ashido gasped, almost too loudly. “No way! Where!?”

 

“Really?” Kaminari exclaimed equally.

 

“Shh!” Bakugou flicked the two’s foreheads. “Quiet, you dumbasses.”

 

“He’s right!” Sero whispered. “I saw him out there, four rows back, in the aisle.” He peeked from the side of the curtain, away from the performance. “But Aizawa’s just a few more behind him. We gotta warn Kiri how dangerous he is.”

 

Bakugou scoffed. “If he’s the one who took him, I think he already fuckin’ knows that.”

 

“So then, was it Kiri who gave you that weird message?"

 

“What, this?” Bakugou waved the good luck card. “I can’t fucking tell what it says.”

 

Sero took the card, twisting it around in his hands. After a moment, he gasped.

 

“Bakugou, this is backwards writing! Here, hold it up to this.” Sero dragged him over to the vanity being used backstage for makeup. Bakugou read the now legible text out loud.

 

_Meet me tonight_

_Nine, clearing in the woods_

_\- Kiri_

 

“Yes! It _is_ from him!” Bakugou cheered. “Finally, I’m gonna get some fuckin’ answers.”

 

“Uh, Sero?” Ashido muttered. _“Where’s_ Aizawa, again?”

 

“I told you, he’s just a few seats-” Sero stopped suddenly as he and Bakugou looked out into the audience, again. Looking closely enough, Kirishima’s seat was obvious, but Aizawa’s- filled just moments ago- was empty. “W-What? Where’d he go?”

 

* * *

 

A single spotlight enveloped Uraraka on stage, as she told her character’s heartfelt rhyme.

 

“My name is Isis,” she recited. “The goddess of life. But the land I once knew, is now full of strife. I feel only sorrow, like a bird with no wings, for no one mourns more for the loss of our king. From the earth at my feet, to the sky up above, I yearn to find again my true departed love.”

 

Concluding her verse, Uraraka knelt to her knees, and sobbed into her hands- a display of acting which drew much sympathy from the audience.

 

The spotlight faded away, the rest of the scene lighting back up. From stage right, Tsuyu stepped in.

 

_“Nephthys, sister to Isis and wife of Set, and now queen of Egypt, was the only one who knew the truth of Set’s dastardly deed. Though she was sworn into secrecy by him, she too felt only sorrow- for Isis wept endlessly for the tragic loss of Osiris. It was she who wished to make things right again...”_

 

“Dear sister,” she said. “Your sorrow is mutual. I mourn for Osiris all the same as you.”

 

“Oh, my sister…” Uraraka lifted her head.

 

“But I still believe your love is within reach!” Tsuyu held out her hand to her. “With your great magical powers, I believe that Osiris can be returned to this land!”

 

Uraraka ‘dried’ her eyes. “Do you truly say so?”

 

Tsuyu nodded, standing her up. “I do, my sister.” She had to resist the urge to laugh. _Yeah, as if ‘sister’ was the word she would describe Uraraka with._

 

* * *

 

Midoriya ran on and on, as fast as he could. Though it was way past sunset, and pitch black outside, he shortcutted through the woods.

 

Traversing around every branch and bramble in his path with what only he could call grace, he found his way back to the still illuminated Anubis House. He wasted no time in racing up the stairs and into Aizawa’s office.

 

“I hope we got this right…” he whispered to himself. Reaching out to the box on the wall that housed all the spare keys, Midoriya tugged on the small door- only for it to give resistance to movement. His heart sank as he realized it was locked. “Oh no… not good!”

 

_Slam!_ Midoriya jumped when he heard the door close downstairs- and steps up them in the next second. “Also not good!”

 

Midoriya ducked to the floor behind the desk just moments before he heard the office door creak open again. Undoubtedly, Aizawa. As footsteps approached Midoriya’s general direction from behind and from his left, he crawled right. The two slowly circled the large desk, until stopping at opposite corners.

 

He watched as Aizawa knelt over his safe to punch in the digital code, just close enough that he could make out the numbers. He wondered if he should have been surprised what they were.

 

**1 - 9 - 2 - 2**

 

The strongbox clicked open, and Aizawa ruffled through several papers inside it. He could also see the faint glint of the ceiling lamp reflect off the golden puzzle piece and onto the wall. Aizawa moved to sit at his desk with a stack of papers- and the puzzle… _pieces?_

 

Aizawa sighed. “Why are there _two,_ Furvus, hmm?” he said out loud to his inanimate cat. “I thought this was the one and only.”

 

_Two pieces?_ Aizawa held up one in each hand. Midoriya recognized the strange golden object he and Todoroki had found almost a week prior. The other object was almost identical to it, but with a different string of numbers on the roll, and a strange black symbol painted in between the hieroglyphics. It resembled a cross, with a loop in place of the top line. Midoriya, still hiding on the floor, tried his best to breathe as silently as possible.

 

His efforts were nearly thwarted when Aizawa’s phone rang. Midoriya slowly shrunk back.

 

“Aizawa,” he groaned out, as he answered. Midoriya could hear the faint feedback of the line as the other side spoke. “What?” he grunted. “Is he in the audience?” More feedback as the caller replied. “Don’t worry,” Aizawa said. “I _will_ eliminate the target for good, this time.”

 

Midoriya’s jaw dropped, as Aizawa dropped his phone. The man made haste, stuffing the papers and gold back away in his safe, and heading out the door. He and Midoriya circled around the desk yet again while the latter still remained hidden.

 

As soon as he was sure Aizawa was gone, Midoriya flew over to the safe and reopened it himself, now that he knew the code. He felt around in the mess of things for metal- and though he did find the cold touch of it, it wasn’t _exactly_ what he was expecting.

 

From somewhere inside the safe box, Midoriya had pulled out a stack of coins- ten giant coins, held together by a weave of yarn, which he unraveled himself. The disc of copper on the top caught his attention- boldly engraved on it, clear as day, was the word **KATSUKI**.

 

_Well, that was weird._ The others were just as much so- he found others that said **SHOUTO** , **OCHAKO** , **TENYA** , and so on for all the other Anubis House residents’ first names. The ninth coin in the stack had the addition of **EIJIROU**. Midoriya found the extra name somewhat familiar, but he couldn’t quite place where. He chose not to look at the tenth coin underneath of it- he could infer what was more than likely on that one. He wasn’t sure he wanted to actually see it.

 

Tying the coins back together, Midoriya stuffed them back into the safe- digging around again for the puzzle pieces. When he’d finally found them, he stuffed them in his hoodie pocket, locked the safe, and scrambled away from the office.

 

* * *

 

Uraraka and Tsuyu’s following scene simplified a montage, in which Isis and Nephthys journeyed across Egypt to find and reassemble the scattered pieces of Osiris’s body. The two girls held their hands in song, and soon Iida appeared from a puff of fog. His costume was entirely different, now- he was dressed from the neck down in bandages, like a mummy, and his face and hands painted a deep green, in the same pose of crossed arms.

 

“Oh, my love, is it truly you?”

 

Iida raised his head up. “My love..?”

 

The emotional scene brought the audience to clap as the two embraced in a hug, while Sero began narrating again.

 

_“United once again, Isis and Osiris consummated their love, and together bore a child. Osiris, however, was a soul who had touched the land of the dead- and could never again live with the living. Though Isis sorrowed to see him go once again, she was also content- for Osiris would soon become a god once more, ruling as king of the afterlife.”_

 

Backstage, Todoroki fidgeted, nervously. Midoriya’s cue was any moment now, and he hadn’t returned yet.

 

“Midoriya?” Yamada paced around “Where is he?”

 

“Er… w-well, I-”

 

“I’m here!” Midoriya, out of breath, dashed in through the door as he threw his hoodie off. “I’m here.”

 

“Midoriya!” Todoroki hugged tight onto him. “I was getting worried!”

 

“Evidently, Todoroki. Midoriya, you have _literally_ five seconds!”

 

“Right!”

 

_“As for their child, it was he who was descended from Osiris, and the rightful heir to the the throne of Egypt. Isis swore she would raise him well, her child whom she named…”_

 

“Horus!” Uraraka finished. On her cue, Midoriya appeared on the stage floor, acting as if he stirred from sleep. The curtain closed again, amidst applause, as the second act ended and the intermission began.

 

* * *

 

“Did you get it?” Uraraka hurriedly asked as she helped Midoriya from the floor.

 

“Y-Yeah, but-”

 

“Yes!” Tsu exclaimed.

 

“Good job, Midoriya!” Iida added.

 

“Y-Yeah, yeah, here,” Midoriya dropped the puzzle pieces into his hands, and rushed off. “Kacchan!” he called.

 

“The fuck do you want?”

 

“Okay, listen. I heard Aizawa say he’s going to eliminate someone in the audience! Like, _eliminate!”_

 

“What?” Bakugou stiffened.

 

“I-I don’t know, he must be talking about Shiga-”

 

“Kirishima..!” Bakugou stomped off.

 

“Huh?” Midoriya said. “Kirishima!?”

 

* * *

 

Nobody had any time to rest during the intermission. Those backstage hustled to prepare act three, which opened soon with Midoriya and Uraraka- or rather, Horus and Isis. The act followed a timeskip into Horus’s adulthood, where he testified his case to the other gods that _he_ should be king, and not Set.

 

“This mere child is not deserving of the throne of Egypt!” Bakugou yelled. “It is _I_ who is the greatest in virility, for I have the very favor of Ra!”

 

“That is true!” Ashido called out, from atop one of the smaller pyramids. “It is Set who defends the barge of Ra from the demon Apophis!”

 

Midoriya had stepped up. “Is it while I, Osiris’s bodily son lives that the throne be rewarded to my uncle?” he argued.

 

“Also true!” Kaminari decreed, from the other pyramid. “As the descendant of Osiris, it is Horus who should rightfully claim the throne!”

 

Todoroki’s character had debuted in the scene as well. “A decision _will_ have to be made, somehow,” he said.

 

“Bah!” Bakugou spat. “If the Ennead shall not make their choice, then I shall do it for them!” He slashed his prop sword in Midoriya’s direction. “I shall challenge him to a rite of passage! He who emerges victorious, shall once and for all!”

 

Midoriya nodded. “Then I accept!”

 

* * *

 

_“From that day, Horus and Set engaged in a series of contests- each more deadly than the last. Set played dirty in every trial, but Horus triumphed nonetheless. Their conflict spanned a long and perilous eighty years...”_

 

As Bakugou and Midoriya jousted about the stage for many scenes, reenacting the gods’ conflict, Aizawa had returned to the theater himself. His seat, along with all the other teachers, was in the very back row. He took his own, between Nezu and Kayama.

 

“Well?” he whispered.

 

Kayama leaned in, pointing towards the front row. “He’s right over there.”

 

“They betrayer is back amongst us.” Nezu frowned. “What business would Tenko Shimura have at a high school performance, anyway?”

 

“I highly doubt the drama is what he’s here for.”

 

“You don’t think..?” She squinted. “Is it possible he may have a connection with Bakugou? If you remember when I confiscated his cellphone...”

 

“Perhaps. But, what on Earth would he possibly want with him?” Aizawa settled into his seat, reluctantly turning his attention back to the play. In no way did it put him in any suspense- it was a myth he knew well enough. Enough so, that he didn’t need to join the audience’s collective gasp at what happened next.

 

Bakugou had brought down his sword across Midoriya’s face- he never actually made contact, of course, as it was entirely theatrical. Still, the act, and Midoriya’s following of crumpling to the ground, appeared realistic enough to elicit a response of shock from the crowd.

 

“Argh! My eyes!” Midoriya cried out.

 

Bakugou let out a raging roar. “It is just as I’ve said! You’re far too weak!” With that, Bakugou vanished from the stage in a flash of red. The audience continued murmuring among themselves.

 

“Oh, my child!” Uraraka rushed out onto the stage. She knelt to the floor, and laid Midoriya’s back across her lap. “What has happened to you?”

 

“Set does not intend to play fair, it seems.” Todoroki sauntered across the stage to them.

 

“My wicked brother..!” Uraraka wept. “He has gone too far this time, Thoth!”

 

“Rise, child Horus.” Todoroki sat Midoriya up. “Allow me to dress your wound.” As Midoriya’s face was pointed away from the audience, he’d hoped the special effects and changing of lighting distracted the audience as Todoroki very closely leaned into his face. At least his blush was hidden.

 

When Midoriya stood back up, he turned to look out in the audience in a moment of pure drama. Todoroki had drawn the eye of Horus over Midoriya’s real left eye with golden paint. The audience applauded at the rise to grace.

 

“Oh, it is truly a miracle!” Uraraka joyed.

 

“My eyes… they have been restored?”

 

“They are- as is your strength, I do hope.” Todoroki placed a hand on his shoulder. “It is you, Horus, who is rightfully heir to the throne of Egypt! You must make all see it so!”

 

* * *

 

The next and final scene opened with Horus and Set preparing to face off yet again. Set had waged his words of war, and poised to strike, when-

 

“That is enough!”

 

All the other characters on stage turned to watch, in awe, as Iida rose from above the big pyramid yet again.

 

“Does Osiris return to this world again!?” Bakugou said in disbelief.

 

“I do!” Iida proclaimed. “And it is now that I seek the right and just reward of the crown to my own son!”

 

“That is entirely unjust!” Bakugou argued.

 

“Wrong, Set,” Todoroki countered, “For it is _you_ who enacted injustice, when you chose to smite Osiris yourself.”

 

The other characters gasped in shock. “It was at Set’s hand that Osiris had been killed?” Uraraka gasped.

 

“Thoth does speak the truth,” Iida declared. “And for this crime, it must be so that Set is removed from the throne, and it be given to Horus!”

 

“Yes!” Uraraka cheered.

 

“No!” Bakugou cried.

 

“Be it so!” Kaminari and Ashido declared.

 

Todoroki made a show of carrying a crown over to Midoriya, and putting it on his head. “Praise be unto Horus, the true king of Egypt!”

 

“Praise be unto him!” the other characters cheered, clapping.

 

“Praise be!” Midoriya himself announced.

 

“Praise be!”

 

At last, the curtain finally closed on the ending of the play, and it was the audience’s turn to erupt into applause- which grew even greater when the curtain opened again for the curtain call. Hand in hand, all the actors took a bow together. The applause amplified, and some even gave a standing ovation.

 

Kirishima himself also stood up, clapping and cheering- but in doing so, his hood flew off his head, exposing his redheaded self like a bright beacon to the crowd.

 

Aizawa, grabbing Kayama’s attention, had spotted him almost immediately. “That’s Kirishima!”

 

Horrified, Bakugou caught his eye. “Kiri, run! Quick!” He screamed through the clamor.

 

Kirishima whipped around, spotting Aizawa as he stalked down the aisle towards him, and took off in the other direction. Through the sea of applauding people, he ran to avoid grabbing hands from both Aizawa, and to Bakugou’s surprise, Shigaraki. The two men had instead collided with each other, sharing glares as Kirishima escaped into the school hallway.

 

“Thank you! Thank you very much, ladies and gentlemen!” Nezu announced as he took to the stage. Aizawa took off out the door himself, while Shigaraki shoved through the crowd towards the stage. “And another special thank you as well to our-!”

 

Shigaraki pushed his way onto the stage, leaning into Bakugou. “Bike shed. Half an hour,” he gritted, before running off behind the stage.

 

“Hey, what? Who was that creep?” Uraraka asked.

 

“Er, S-Sorry about that, ladies and gentlemen,” Nezu said. “Just an, uh, over-enthusiastic member of the audience. And who can blame him?” he chuckled, waving. “Have a good night!”

 

The audience applauded once more, and the curtain closed for good. As soon as it did, Bakugou immediately began throwing off his costume.

 

“Woah, dude! What are you doing!?” Kaminari covered his eyes.

 

“Fuck off!” Bakugou yelled, hastily dressing himself in a t-shirt and sweatpants. “I’m going to fucking find Kirishima! He could be in danger!”

 

“Bakugou, wait!” Sero called after him.

 

* * *

 

Kirishima dashed as fast as he could through the dark hallways of the school, hearing footsteps behind him periodically slow down and pick up. When he’d lost sound of them, he darted into an empty classroom, shutting the door behind him.

 

He listened, intently, as heeled footsteps slowly trotted around outside. Holding his breath, he slowly backed away from the door, and-

 

“You silly, silly boy.” he jumped, turning around to see Aizawa step up to him, with a scowl on his face.

 

Kirishima clenched his fists. “I want to see Bakugou. Let me go see him!”

 

“That’s out of the question.”

 

“I don’t care! You can’t stop me!” Kirishima threw the door back open, preparing to run back out- only to be stopped in his path by Kayama, equally scornful.

 

“Not so fast, young man.” She stepped into the room, closing the door behind her, and Kirishima backed up. “What on Earth were you thinking?”

 

“Where is Shimura?” Aizawa asked her.

 

Kayama sighed. “It seems he’s disappeared without a trace.”

 

“That’s unfortunate.” Aizawa turned to face Kirishima. “Now then, it’s time for  _you_  to disappear again, chosen one.”

 

“I don’t _want_ to be the chosen one!” Kirishima yelled. “Do you hear me!? I don’t want it! I want to go see Bakugou!”

 

“I’m afraid the choice isn’t yours,” he insisted.

 

“Kiri!” Muffled and distant, Bakugou’s voice called out to him. “Kirishima!”

 

Kirishima’s eyes widened. “Ba-!”

 

Kayama clamped her hand over his mouth, tightly, and pulled him away from the window of the door. Aizawa, meanwhile, ducked behind a desk. Kirishima desperately struggled against her grip, and Bakugou continued calling for him.

 

“If you value Bakugou’s safety,” she whispered to him, “then I would suggest that youkeep _absolutely_ quiet.”

 

Kirishima could only watch, helplessly, as the silhouette of his boyfriend passed right by the classroom door.

 

* * *

 

“I thought I told you to be here in half an hour!” Shigaraki chastised.

 

“Sorry, okay?” Bakugou groaned, climbing into the passenger seat of his car. “I was trying to find Kirishima. Did you know he was in the audience?”

 

Shigaraki blinked. “Y-Yes, I, uh, arranged to meet him there. But then Aizawa spotted him, and- well, you know.”

 

“I know,” Bakugou grunted. “I saw him chasing him. What if Aizawa’s caught him? Or _worse?”_

 

Shigaraki scoffed, frowning. “So near, and yet so far…” He pounded a fist on the steering wheel. “Meddling idiots.”

 

Just then, Bakugou felt his cellphone vibrate. “Uh, hello?” he answered.

 

“Hey, it's Sero! Are you okay?”

 

“Is that Kirishima?” Shigaraki asked, hurriedly. Bakugou waved him off.

 

“Yeah, yeah, I’m fine. Why wouldn’t I be?”

 

“Where are you?”

 

“I told you, I’m trying to find Kirishima. I’m with Shigaraki, we-”

 

Shigaraki snatched his phone from his hand, and hung up the line.

 

“Hey, what the hell!?”

 

“Why were you mentioning my name?” he glared hard at Bakugou.

 

“It’s okay! It’s just Sero, we’re friends with Kirishima. He’s not gonna say anything.”

 

“Urgh…” Shigaraki pocketed Bakugou’s phone.

 

“Okay, joke’s fucking over, give me my phone!”

 

Shigaraki reached over and locked the car doors. “Don’t talk,” he said.

 

“What’s going on? Let me out! Fucking let me-!”

 

The back of his hand came down hard across Bakugou’s face. “I said, don’t talk,” Shigaraki insisted, as he pulled his seatbelt over him. “This’ll be a bit of a bumpy ride.” he floored the gas pedal, and Bakugou was thrown back in his seat.

 

“What the fuck are you doing!?" He pounded on the window. "Let me out! _Let me out!”_

  



	14. Tricks of the Trade

“Good morning, Hizashi,” Aizawa greeted the teacher in Nezu’s office.

 

“You wanted to see me?”

 

“Er, yes,” Nezu said. “Well, rather, it was Aizawa who wished to see you.”

 

“I wanted to talk to you about the subject matter of your little… performance last night.”

 

“Oh, right! The play!” Yamada said. “Did you enjoy it?”

 

“Hmm, ‘enjoy’ is not exactly the word I would use,” Aizawa said, frowning. Yamada’s face also fell.

 

“Y-You see, Hizashi,” Kayama continued for him, “Some of the themes in the play, they, erm... touched upon the... history of our society.”

 

“O-Oh. Really?”

 

“Really.”

 

“And let me guess,” Aizawa added. “The people who came up with the idea were-” he listed them off with his fingers- “Izuku Midoriya, and Shouto Todoroki.”

 

“A-Actually,” Yamada stuttered, holding up his hands in defense and smiling nervously, “It was Ochako Uraraka who pitched the idea.”

 

“Then, she is equally suspect.”

 

“Er, come to think of it…” Yamada looked away. “It _was_ Midoriya who researched and wrote the play with her…”

 

Aizawa nodded. “I thought so.”

 

* * *

 

“So, Aizawa had another puzzle piece in his safe the whole time?” Todoroki said.

 

“Yeah…” Midoriya fidgeted with the roll of numbers on one of them. “Maybe the puzzle pieces really are more than just clues. I was going to ask if I could go into the school today, and maybe I could get some more research done on these things.”

 

“Aizawa will probably go ballistic once he finds out they’re gone…” Uraraka shrugged.

 

“Don’t worry!” Midoriya assured. “We still have the perfect alibi. As far as he knows, we were at the school all last evening.”

 

“Hey,” Ashido said. strolling up to the breakfast table. “Any of you know where Bakugou is? He left right after the play last night, and none of us have seen him.”

 

“Oh, uh,” Midoriya hastily shoved the puzzle piece away. “I thought everybody went out after the play?” he asked. “Iida and his older brother treated Uraraka and I to dinner with our parents.”

 

“Yeah,” Uraraka agreed. “And Tsu spent the night at her family’s house, since it’s a weekend. Maybe Bakugou did the same?”

 

“I guess, but, I thought he’d be back by now. His phone must be dead or something.”

 

“Well, it’s still pretty early in the morning. Maybe he slept in?”

 

* * *

 

Rather, Bakugou didn’t sleep at all. Not during the car drive, not after Shigaraki had thrown him through the rusty door of the warehouse, and not after he’d climbed up into the old, beat up recliner chair. After hours of staring at the walls, he was still awake even when he’d returned.

 

“Good morning, Bakugou,” he greeted, with a low tone.

 

“You come to take my breakfast order?” he scoffed, sarcastically.

 

He chuckled, dropping a plastic bottle of water into his lap. Before Bakugou could even reach for it, he felt a sharp tug at the back of his head.

 

“Ow! What the fuck? Get off me!” _Snip._ Bakugou’s hand flew to the back of his head, as Shigaraki stepped back in front of him, dangling a lock of blond hair in his fingers. “What the hell do you even want from me?”

 

“From you? Nothing at all, except for you to stay put and stay quiet.”

 

“You know, the cops are probably swarming the countryside by now. They’ll put you away for years.”

 

“Oh, Bakugou,” Shigaraki said, as he turned toward the door. “When I’m done here, I’d be more than happy to wait those years.” As soon as he opened the metal door, Bakugou opened his mouth.

 

“Asshole!” He screamed. “Let me out of here! Let me out!”

 

Shigaraki simply waved goodbye, with the same hand he was holding his hair in, and bolted the door shut again.

 

* * *

 

The call came to Nezu’s desk phone just before eight-thirty in the morning.

 

“Nezu,” he answered.

 

“Hello, Nezu,” the line replied. “I think you know who it is.”

 

Nezu frowned. “Shimura?”

 

“In the flesh.”

 

“Why were you at the play last night?” he demanded. “What are you up to?”

 

“You mean you don’t know? One of your students is missing- Katsuki Bakugou, I borrowed him.”

 

“What!? Are you mad!?”

 

“Oh, quite possibly,” he chuckled.

 

“Is he alright? If you’ve harmed him in any way-!”

 

“No, no, he’s fine. For now, that is.”

 

Nezu sighed. “What do you want from us, Shimura? You know you’re no longer a member of this society.”

 

“I’ve got quite a list.”

 

“I should think that you have no right to be making demands of us!”

 

“Oh, Nezu,” he cooed. “It’s time to think again.”

 

* * *

 

Aizawa stormed into the living room just as breakfast was concluding. “Sit back down,” he said, waving the teens off towards the table.

 

Todoroki pursed his lips. “Here we go.”

 

“Sit down, all of you," he said again.

 

“Is this about the play?” Midoriya asked, innocently.

 

Aizawa glared at him. “Do you think I’m here to give you a review?” He planted his hands on the back of an empty chair. “Your juvenile fantasies are of no concern to me, whatsoever. I’m here because a serious theft had taken place- _again._ Items of great value were taken from my safe late last night.” While he spoke, Todoroki and Midoriya looked toward each other, worry spreading across their faces. “Was it you?” he said to Todoroki, suddenly leaning in between them.

 

“No.”

 

“You?” he said to Midoriya.

 

“N-No.”

 

“Why do you think it was any of us?” Todoroki said. “You know we were all at the school last night, _everyone_ was.”

 

“Er, when were they taken?” Uraraka asked.

 

Aizawa took a deep breath. “Well, they were there when I checked just before the intermission. The... only other time I was away, was during the rest of your little performance.”

 

“There you go. We were all on stage.” Todoroki had gotten into a staring match between himself and Aizawa.

 

“Yeah,” Midoriya said. “So it couldn’t have been any of us, we were all performing. The show must go on, and all of that.”

 

Aizawa straightened up, with a faint smile. “Of course,” he said, rubbing his hands together. “Of course, how very remiss of me. If you’ll pardon my jumping to conclusions…”

 

“N-No problem,” Midoriya said. “You were just looking out for your stuff.”

 

“Indeed,” Aizawa nodded. From upstairs, the sound of a phone ringing buzzed. Aizawa nodded towards the sound, and left the group of students be.

 

* * *

 

“We have a problem, my friends,” Nezu greeted the two teachers.

 

“What’s happened, Nezu?” Kayama asked.

 

“I received a phone call earlier. And _this_ was just delivered, by hand.” He handed Aizawa an opened envelope. Inside, he found a folded letter, and a bundled lock of blond hair.

 

“What is this..?”

 

“It belongs to Bakugou. He’s been kidnapped by Tenko Shimura.”

 

“Oh, no…” Kayama lamented.

 

Aizawa exhaled. “There’s more, I’m afraid. The Ankh objects have been taken from my safe."

 

“Was that Shimura too?” She asked.

 

“I don’t know, but I plan to find out.”

 

“You see,” Nezu continued, “Shimura has compiled an enclosed list of demands, which-”

 

“Which we _cannot_ give in to!” Aizawa retorted. “Isn’t it obvious what he’s after, anyway?”

 

“I understand, Aizawa, but as the principal, I have a duty-!”

 

Aizawa stomped over to him. “The only duty you should be concerning yourself with, is that of keeping the chosen one in place, and protecting the secrets of the society!”

 

“We know that, Aizawa,” Kayama added. “But one of our pupils has been kidnapped! We can’t just sit back and do nothing!”

 

“Shimura is trying to play us into his hands!” Aizawa raised his voice. “‘Nothing’ is _exactly_ what we must do,” he finalized, as the stomped out of the office.

 

Just then, the phone on Nezu’s desk rang again. “Hello?” he answered.

 

“Hello again, Nezu.”

 

His eyes widened. “It’s him!” he mouthed to Kayama, as he put the phone on speaker. “Y-Yes?”

 

“I trust you’ve gotten my message.”

 

“I have.”

 

“Good. You’re to meet me tonight, at Nine. In the clearing. _No_ tricks.”

 

“B-But we can’t-!” The line went dead.

 

“So, he wants to do the exchange tonight?” Kayama said, nodding. “Then that’s what we’ll do. I have a plan, but Aizawa mustn't know a _thing_ about it.”

 

* * *

 

Bakugou watched from the chair as Shigaraki made and finished his phone call. While his back was turned, he gently crept up from the chair, and knelt behind it. The warehouse was full of piles upon piles of old junk, large enough that he could creep behind them, and probably towards the door.

 

“Bakugou?” Shigaraki’s voice came. Bakugou tensed, but continued crawling along the floor as quietly as he could. “Oh, It’s a game of hide and seek, isn’t it? What fun. Come out, come out, wherever you are...”

 

As Shigaraki circled behind the chair, Bakugou continued past a stack of boxes. “You know you can’t escape, don’t you?” he leaned over, looking right away from him. “Now, don’t be a silly boy, Bakugou. Come out from under there.”

 

As he knelt, Bakugou slowly stood up behind him. In a moment of tension, he shoved forward, with a heavy grunt of effort. The dense cardboard crates toppled down right on top of Shigaraki, clanging loudly against each other, and he crumpled to the ground.

 

Panting, Bakugou just watched as the man lay motionless, face down. He didn’t move at all for several minutes, and neither did he.

 

Bakugou sighed. “Asshole,” he whispered. _The door was right over there. He could probably find a way through it._ Moving slow, he gently stepped over him, and-

 

He was halted by the sudden, tight grip on his ankle, feeling its messy, jagged fingernails break through his skin in seconds.

 

“You little fool.”

 

He tensed, trying to break his leg away from Shigaraki’s hand. Shigaraki yanked, and Bakugou himself fell face first to the floor. Before he even had a chance to react, Shigaraki grabbed both his arms, his fingernails scratching them up as well, and pinned them behind his back as he dragged him up off the floor.

 

“Try anything like that again, and you _will_ be sorry.” Shigaraki threw him back down onto the recliner.

 

“I’m not scared of you,” Bakugou argued.

 

“Well,” Shigaraki replied, looming over him, “Maybe you ought to be.”

 

* * *

 

“Something’s wrong,” Ashido said, as she flopped onto the living room couch. “Really wrong. It’s the almost the evening, now. Bakugou would’ve called.”

 

“I don’t think he was with his parents,” Sero added. “That good luck card he got, and what he said before he ran off last night, do you think something happened to him?”

 

“Maybe he found Kirishima?” Kaminari tried.

 

“Where were they gonna meet again?” Ashido asked.

 

“Oh, I have the card right here.” Sero unfolded the envelope. “He asked to meet him in a clearing in the woods. I think I know where that is! We should try looking there.”

 

“Right.” In agreement, the three set off towards the door.

 

“Wait, now,” Aizawa called out, freezing them in their tracks.

 

“Y-Yeah?”

 

“Where are you lot going?”

 

“Oh, you know, just, uh- out,” Ashido said. “It’s a lovely weekend, hate to spend it cooped up in here.”

 

Aizawa rolled his eyes. “Fine, fine, just sign out first. But not you,” he pointed to Kaminari.

 

“What?” Kaminari exclaimed. “Why not?”

 

“I got a phone call from the hospital earlier. You’re due back today for a checkup, after your little… incident from last week. There’s already a taxi on the way for you.”

 

“O-Oh.” He turned to his friends, giving a shrug. “Sorry, guys. You'll have to go on ahead.”

 

“Don’t worry about it, man,” Sero said. “We’ll be back soon.”

 

Ashido waved him goodbye, and closed the front door behind her and Sero. “Do you think Bakugou’s okay?” She asked. “I have a bad feeling about this…”

 

“Bakugou’s a tough cookie, Mina,” he said. “I’m sure he can take care of himself.”

 

* * *

 

“Help!” Bakugou yelled, from the chair towards the briefly opened door. “Help me! Help!”

 

“You can scream all you want, as loud as you want, Bakugou,” Shigaraki said. “We’re in the middle of nowhere, nobody’s going to hear you.” he bolted the door shut.

 

“The trip in your car only took, like, ten fuckin’ minutes.”

 

“Oh, bravo, you  _do_ have half a mind to pay attention,” he muttered. “It’s not like that makes a difference.”

 

Bakugou smirked. “Doesn’t it?”

 

Shigaraki squinted. “What are you talking about..?”

 

“Well, I’m sure someone might’ve found my little clue by now.”

 

Not taking his eyes off him, Shigaraki slowly stepped over to him, until his face was just inches from his. “What. Little. Clue?”

 

“My ring,” Bakugou leered, still smirking. “I had a ring that Kirishima gave me. I dropped it when were in the clearing, just in case he found his way there, so he’d know I was nearby. You know, I’m surprised you didn’t notice I had it before, I always kept it right here.” Bakugou raised his middle finger between their faces.

 

Shigaraki stood up, backing toward the door. “You are causing me a great deal of grief, young man.”

 

* * *

 

With permission from the teachers, Midoriya had been allowed into an empty classroom to work, under the guise of a school project. Plenty of students came into the school on weekends to do so, but they usually went for the library. Midoriya had insisted the more-familiar and quieter work environment would better suit him.

 

In the privacy, he’d sprawled out the two puzzle pieces and gotten to work. As always, the hieroglyphics were completely unintelligible, and he’d so far found no pattern in either of the number combinations. He was determined, but thrown out of his focus by the sudden voices in the hallway.

 

“Nemuri, please!” he heard Nezu say. “I’m not saying I won’t help you. I just think we should ask Aizawa to be in on this discussion.”

 

“You heard what he said before, he wants no part in this. And about protecting the secret.”

 

Midoriya, trying to move away from the window if the classroom door, listened intently.

 

“Perhaps he’s right.”

 

“You’re not thinking clearly, Nezu. What do you think will happen to this school if word gets around that students are disappearing under mysterious circumstances? They’ll close us down! Without this place, the secret and the society will be worthless!”

 

“Well, what do you intend to do?”

 

“Whatever I have to do to get Bakugou back from Shimura.”

 

Midoriya furrowed his eyebrows. _Kacchan..?_

 

* * *

 

“It’s just up this way!” Sero panted, as he jogged through the forest with Ashido.

 

“Hey, is that a car over there?” she said.

 

Sero stopped. “Shh!” he ducked behind a tree, and she did the same.

 

“Isn’t that the creepy Shigaraki guy he was talking about?”

 

“Yeah, I think.” The two watched as the man crawled along the ground. “What’s he looking for?”

 

“I don’t know, but I think he just found it.” They watched as he stood, up, gripping something in his fist. He went straight to his car, and drove off all in a moment.

 

As soon as he was gone, the two trotted down into the clearing.

 

“He’s not with him..?”

 

Sero gasped. “Mina, look! There’s some oil on the ground!”

 

“Ahh! Is it on my shoe?”

 

“N-No… But that must mean his car’s leaking. It’s leaving a trail!”

 

“Oh!” she gasped. “Do you think if we follow it, it’ll lead us to him?”

 

Sero shrugged. “It’s the only lead we’ve got right now. Let’s go!”

 

* * *

 

Shigaraki tossed another water bottle to Bakugou once he got back.

 

“A little better than that dusty old one you brought me this morning,” he said, as he took a swig from it.

 

“Consider yourself lucky that you’re getting anything at all, after what you pulled earlier.” Shigaraki reached into his pocket, and produced the sterling silver ring he dug up from the clearing. “You can have this back, by the way,” he said, “although you do _not_ deserve it.” he flicked the ring at him, and Bakugou caught it with his other hand.

 

“Why _are_ you so interested in Kirishima, anyway?” He asked, as he twisted the ring back onto his middle finger.

 

“That’s none of your business.”

 

“And what’s your connection to Aizawa?”

 

He chuckled. “Well, the two of us go back a long way. But that’s all you need to know.”

 

* * *

 

Sero and Ashido’s hike led them on for some time, arriving at their destination just as the sun began to set.

 

“This is freaky,” Ashido commented.

 

“Freaky? Nah,” Sero tried to joke, “What’s freaky about an old abandoned warehouse in the woods at dusk?”

 

“Do you think Bakugou’s in there?”

 

“Maybe? There’s no sign of Shigaraki’s car, though.”

 

“He’s definitely been here, though, look!” She pointed to a puddle of oil, at the end of their trail.

 

Sero took a deep breath. “Okay, let’s check inside.”

 

* * *

 

The two’s voices echoed through the closed door, and Shigaraki jumped around at them. Bakugou, recognizing them, widened his eyes, as he tried to move away from the chair. Shigaraki ran over to him and clamped his hand on his mouth, pulling him away just as the door creaked open.

 

“Hello?” Ashido called. As she and Sero tiptoed into the warehouse, Shigaraki dragged a struggling Bakugou behind the stack of boxes, and towards the open door.

 

Sero lifted the bottle of water. “It’s still cold. They must’ve just been here.”

 

“Well where are they now?”

 

“Mina! Sero!”

 

They gasped. “Bakugou?”

 

Bakugou broke away a moment too late. He tried to move fast, but Shigaraki moved faster, and slammed the door shut in their faces.

 

“Bakugou!” they pounded desperately on the locked door.

 

“It’s a shame had to leave our little five-star factory,” Shigaraki sighed, as he dragged Bakugou by his wrists.

 

“I’m still not fuckin’ scared of you!” he yelled. “It doesn’t matter where you take me! My friends are gonna find us!”

 

“Oh, and I wonder how they’re gonna do that, seeing as they’re locked in the warehouse,” Shigaraki retorted through gritted teeth. “Now get in the damn car.”

 

* * *

 

“Sero? Ashido?” Midoriya called into the living room. The house was strangely empty for a Saturday evening. “Is anyone still here? Anyone at a-ALL!?”

 

Midoriya yelled the end of his sentence out in surprise, as he slipped on the hardwood floor, promptly landing on his rear end.

 

He groaned, looking over to the source of his slip. On the floor was Bakugou’s good luck card from the play, which had still been inside the open envelope until Midoriya’s foot had kicked it out, sprawling it’s contents out into the open.

 

“It’s… written backwards?” he muttered, as he stood back up with it. The slight reflection on the window was all he needed to read it off.

 

_Meet me tonight_

_Nine, clearing in the woods_

_\- Kiri_

 

Midoriya gasped. “Kacchan..!”

 

* * *

 

It was dark before Sero and Ashido could try to do anything.

 

“Can we smash a window?” Ashido suggested.

 

“They’re all barred up,” Sero said. “Do you have your phone? Maybe we can call someone.”

 

“Yeah, but I don't have service.” She tapped furiously at the screen of her phone. “Were in the middle of nowhere!”

 

A hard thump came from the other side of the door.

 

“Uh oh,” he said. “Is he back?”

 

“Quick! Grab something!” Ashido picked up a metal pipe from the floor, while Sero armed himself with a loose brick.

 

As soon as the door started to creak open, they charged, screaming.

 

He also screamed, too, stopping the two right before they collided with him.

 

“Midoriya!?”

 

“Ashido? Sero? What are you guys doing here!?”

 

“What about you, dude?” Sero laughed.

 

“I-I followed the oil leak! I thought Kacchan would be here!”

 

“He was!” Ashido said. “But that Shigaraki guy’s got him! He’s a total psycho!”

 

“Y-Yeah, I know. You guys need to come with me. Hurry!”

 

* * *

 

“Did you get it?” Kayama asked, as soon as Nezu reentered his office.

 

He said nothing. He simply waited for the man behind him to enter was well.

 

“I want you to know that I am completely against negotiating with the enemy!” Aizawa scolded.

 

“You told him..!”

 

“I had no choice, Nemuri.”

 

“Don’t you two see what Shimura is doing?” Aizawa continued. “Once again, he is creating divisions within the society.”

 

“Nevertheless, Aizawa, I need the elixir. It’s our only hope of getting Bakugou back unharmed.”

 

“Absolutely out of the question.”

 

Kayama huffed. “Alright, then. In that case, I’ll just have to give him this, then.” She pulled a plastic vial of potent orange liquid from her purse.

 

Immediately, Aizawa snatched it from her hand. “Where did you get this!?”

 

“Oh, relax, It’s just water and food coloring.” She took the vial back. “It’s a fake, just like the address I’m going to give him for Kirishima. Now, if you’ll excuse me...”

 

“Nemuri, please!”

 

She stomped off, her heeled footsteps echoing after the shutting of the door.

 

“Aizawa,” Nezu tried, “You have to go after her. We can’t let her go in alone with no bargaining tools, or she could be in great danger!”

 

Aizawa sighed. “She will be a necessary sacrifice. No one person is bigger than the society, Nezu. That is something you must learn.”

 

* * *

 

“Ms. K!” Sero called for her, right as she left the doors of the school building.

 

“W-What on Earth?” she asked. “Isn’t it a little late for you three to be wandering around?”

 

“We know Bakugou’s been kidnapped, Ms. K,” Ashido said.

 

“We know that Shigaraki has him,” Midoriya added. “And we know that _you_ know he has him.”

 

She blinked, stuttering. “W-Where did you get that information?”

 

“That’s not important, Ms. K., We just want to get Bakugou back safely,” Ashido asserted.

 

“As do I!” She rebuked.

 

“Okay,” Sero said, “So what’s the plan?”

 

“The ‘plan’ is, that you three go back to your house, right now. _I_ will handle this, and I promise you it will all be resolved by morning.” She gently pushed her way past them.

 

“You’re going to meet him, aren’t you?” Midoriya accused.

 

“Keep out of this, Midoriya!”

 

“We want to come with you!” Ashido pleaded. “We want to help Bakugou just as much as you do! We’re not scared of Shigaraki!”

 

“You don’t what you’re trying to walk into. Besides, I couldn’t possibly let children like you get involved.”

 

“Well, then you better have a time machine,” Midoriya sassed back. “Because we’re already _really_ involved, and you can’t go alone. Shigaraki’s too dangerous!”

 

“Exactly,” she demanded, again. “Which is why you’re all to stay here. Now, if you’ll excuse me...” she trotted off.

 

“What do we do now?” Ashido whispered.

 

Midoriya nodded. “We'll follow her," he said. "'Children?'  _Pfft,_  We’ll show her.”

 

* * *

 

The gong of the school bell, signaling nine o’clock, echoed through the woods that neighbored the campus. Kayama’s car inched forward along the dirt path, stopping several yards in front of another. On its hood, a figure sat in wait.

 

“Well, well,” he said. “It’s a pleasure to see you again, Nemuri,” Shigaraki said.

 

“I wish I could say the same, Shimura,” she replied, as she stepped out of her car.

 

“If I see _anyone_ else, I’m out of here, and it will be the worst for Bakugou.”

 

“I’ve come alone, just as you asked. Now let’s get on with this-”

 

“No, hold on,” Shigaraki halted her with a pointed finger. “Lock your car.”

 

"What?"

 

"Lock. Your. Car."

 

She rolled her eyes, and turned around while she dug out her keys.

 

In the nearby bushes, Midoriya crept by with Sero and Ashido. “I don’t see Bakugou!” Ashido whispered.

 

“He must be in the back of his car.” Midoriya tiptoed past the two negotiating adults, and up to the back of the car.

 

“Now throw me your keys,” they heard Shigaraki say, followed by their jingle as he caught them.

 

“I want to talk to Bakugou.”

 

“All in good time, Nemuri. Have you got everything I asked for?”

 

“It’s all in here.” She waved the paper package.

 

“Put it on the ground, and walk back to where you’re standing.”

 

Sero fumbled with the latch on the back door. “Oh, come on! It’s locked!”

 

“Look! There he is!” Ashido pointed in the window.

 

“Sero? Mina?”

 

“Bakugou! Are you okay?”

 

“I’m fine! Just fucking get me out of here!”

 

Kayama raised her voice. “You have what you wanted, now give me Bakugou!”

 

“When I have checked everything out, and everything is okay, you can have him back.”

 

“You’re going back on our deal!”

 

“No, I’m being careful.” he opened the driver’s seat door.

 

“How _dare_ you cheat us!” She pounded on the hood. “No!”

 

“You guys, stand back!” Midoriya stood up.

 

Bakugou’s eyes widened. “Deku? What the hell are you-!?”

 

“Look out!” Midoriya stepped back, giving himself a running start, and kicked the back windshield through. Just before his foot broke the glass pane away, the engine of the vehicle roared to life.

 

“No!” Kayama screamed, again. The bumper lurched forward a couple feet, shoving her to the pavement as the roar increased. She scrambled away from the car just before it started to move again. “Nooo!!”

 

Groaning with effort, Bakugou climbed his way through the empty hole in the windshield, toppling to the ground himself several yards away. The car never stopped, but continued on down the road before disappearing into the night.

 

The three teens ran over to him. “Bakugou!” Ashido and Sero called.

 

“Kacchan!” Midoriya, himself, called.

 

Bakugou struggled to his feet, nearly falling down again when Ashido tackled him into a hug. Sero wasn’t long to follow.

 

“W-What?” Kayama stumbled onto her own feet. “H-How... How on Earth did you..?”

 

Midoriya laughed. “I told you we were really involved.”

 

“Oh, Bakugou,” Kayama stumbled over to them. “I was so worried... I-I-”

 

Bakugou swatted her hands away. “Yeah, right, fucking save it!” he yelled.

 

“Bakugou..?”

 

“Come on, dammit! Just tell me already! What’s the big fucking mystery!? What the hell have you been keeping from all of us!?” Bakugou vented his anger out loud until his face was as red as his eyes, which were flowing with tears. “Why is Shigaraki after Kirishima!? Where _is_ Kirishima!? Why have you been erasing him from the school!? What the fuck have you done to him!? Fucking tell me, right now! Or I swear I’m going global!”

 

Kayama tried to compose herself. “Don’t threaten me, Bakugou. You have _no_ idea what you’re getting into.”

 

He looked behind him, at his friends (and Midoriya). The three of them each nodded at him. He turned back to her. “Don’t threaten _me, Nemuri,”_ he mocked. “I’m already in on it.”

 

She sighed, pulling her phone from her purse. “I see…”

 

* * *

 

Kayama personally drove the quartet back to Anubis House, where Aizawa stood waiting on the veranda. He wasted no time in leading them inside, and upstairs to his office.

 

Bakugou coughed, watching Aizawa shut the door behind them and locking it. “W-Why are y-you... locking the d-door?”

 

“Bakugou, are you okay?” Sero asked.

 

“I-I can’t- I can’t breathe!” Bakugou gasped, shaking slightly. “I need to get out of here! Let me out!”

 

“Mr. Aizawa, you heard him!” Midoriya begged. “Let him out!” Aizawa simply stepped past him.

 

“Me too!” Ashido pleaded. “I don’t want to be in here anymore!”

 

“You wanted answers,” Aizawa said, as he typed at his laptop, “Well, here they are.”

 

“Let me out!” Bakugou cried, pounding on the door. “Let me _out!!"_

 

“Bakugou?”

 

He stopped, suddenly, at the new voice.

 

“Bakugou, are you there?”

 

Slowly, he turned around, getting ahold of himself. Aizawa had turned the screen of his computer to face them. The light on the webcam was on, and a video chat was set up. There, on the screen, Bakugou looked to see-

 

“Kirishima..?”

 

 


	15. Mixed Messages

“I got your card, Kiri!” Bakugou said, starting to lighten up some. “I saw you in the audience! I went to find you after, but…”

 

Kirishima shook his head, his natural and unspiked hair brushing across his shoulders. “They wouldn’t let me meet you. They said it was ‘too dangerous’.”

 

“It’s okay, dude.” Sero nudged into the frame with Bakugou. “It’s not your fault.”

 

“Sero?” Kirishima laughed. “Hey, man! Good to see ya! Is that Mina I see there, too?”

 

“Yep!” She leaned in between them.

 

“And who’s that over there?”

 

“Oh, this is Midoriya, he’s new.” Ashido pulled him over with them. “Midoriya, Kirishima. Kirishima, Midoriya.”

 

“Uh, h-hi!” Midoriya stuttered out.

 

“Hey there. So, you’re the new me, huh?”

 

“W-Well, uh, I guess-”

 

Kirishima laughed. “I’m just kidding, dude. Nice to meet ya.” Midoriya also laughed a little, nervously.

 

“Enough about us, man,” Bakugou said, “What about you? When are you coming back?”

 

Kirishima’s smile slowly fell, and in the same moment, so did everyone else’s. “I, uh… I’m not.”

 

“W-What?” Bakugou’s expression fell into worry. “Why not? Can’t you at least tell us where you are?”

 

“No, he cannot,” Aizawa interrupted. The whole conversation, Aizawa had sat in silence, with his arms folded and eyes shut. It was the first time he’d spoken since the video chat started.

 

“What!?” The other four all exclaimed together.

 

“And why the hell not!?” Bakugou started to choke up again as he confronted Aizawa.

 

“I… I can’t say too much,” Kirishima continued, “But, my dad says there’s someone after us- someone dangerous.” As if on cue, a taller figure walked around behind him and sat down at his left. “He says we have to move away, and change our names, and stuff.”

 

Bakugou looked up at Aizawa. “Shimura?” he asked. He nodded.

 

“I’m… I’m sorry, Bakugou.” Kirishima averted his gaze. “It’s just too dangerous for me to be there anymore.”

 

“Off the cam now, please, Eijirou,” the man next to him said.

 

“‘Kay, dad, just a sec.” he turned back to face them. “Guys, I have to go now, but listen- Aizawa, and the other teachers, they-”

 

“Eijirou…” he insisted again, almost hurriedly.

 

Kirishima hesitated. “T-They’re protecting me.” he looked over to Bakugou, specifically, with his eyes starting to well up. “You can trust them, okay?” he started to stand up.

 

“Kiri, don’t go! Please!” Bakugou yelled, suddenly. “We’ll miss you… _I’ll_ miss you…”

 

He sniffled. “I’m gonna miss you too. G-Goodbye…” With that, Kirishima left the frame entirely, and his dad moved to sit in his place.

 

“Kiri…” Ashido and Sero also lamented for their friend.

 

“There, happy now?” Aizawa said.

 

“Hell no!” Bakugou cried. “Why is Shiga- S-Shima- _whoever_ the fuck he is after Kiri, anyway?”

 

“He’s not after him, Bakugou,” Kirishima’s dad spoke up, “He’s after me.”

 

He raised his eyebrow. “What do you mean?”

 

“Well, I work for the government, you see. Tenko Shimura- or as you all know him, under his false name, Tomura Shigaraki- is a highly wanted criminal. He’s after some top-secret information, which we _cannot_ let him have- it’s a matter of national security. I’m afraid that’s all I can say at the moment.”

 

“Very well, now, let’s wrap it up.” Aizawa was tapping his fingers on his desk, impatiently.

 

The man on the computer nodded. “Of course. Thank you for your time, Mr. Aizawa.”

 

Aizawa turned his computer back around, closing it as it went silent. “One more thing,” he instructed to the four teens, as he moved to unlock his office door. “You’re all to go straight into school in the mornings, and come right back here afterwards. Nobody goes _anywhere_ without my knowledge. For all we know, Shimura is still at large. Is that understood?”

 

The group hesitated, but still gave a “Yes, sir,” as they left the room together.

 

“Good. Now, go get ready for bed, It’s almost ten o’clock. You all know the rest.” He waved them off.

 

Within five minutes, the entire upstairs was quiet once again, save for a faint buzz from the same room.

 

“Aizawa?” it said. “Are you still there?”

 

Aizawa locked his door again, and went to sit down at his desk and reopen the laptop, where the same video call was still waiting. “Yes, I’m here.”

 

“Do you think they bought it?” he asked.

 

“Yes, I should think so.”

 

“Good.”

 

“But, I don’t think we should allow any more contact.”

 

He nodded. “I agree.”

 

“After all,” Aizawa said, as his hand reached out to pet his stuffed cat, “We don’t want anything to distract the chosen one from fulfilling his destiny, now do we?”

 

* * *

 

“So, Aizawa really is one of the good guys..?” Midoriya wondered out loud, as the three boys went towards their rooms. Bakugou had told Sero to go on ahead to bed, lying that he wanted to shower first, but in reality found himself out in the hallway with Midoriya.

 

“I guess so.” Bakugou kept his gaze to the floor, leaning against the wall with him.

 

“And all that talk with Shi- uh, _him_ in the bikeshed…”

 

“All bullshit, probably.”

 

“Y-Yeah, I guess…” Midoriya gently tugged at his shirt collar, and the chain inside it.

 

Bakugou finally looked up. “Can I… ask you something?”

 

“Hm? Sure.”

 

“Who the hell is Toshinori Yagi, anyway?”

 

Midoriya felt a slight chill, but kept himself composed with a smile. “Like I said, he’s just a friend of mine.”

 

“And the fact that Shimura said the exact same thing doesn’t worry you at all?”

 

 _Truth be told, it did, in a way._ “Well, what Shimura said back in the shed wasn’t entirely untrue. Toshinori really _is_ an elderly man that gets confused most days. He’s not dangerous, or anything.”

 

“But what made him want that locket of yours, anyway? Because I don’t really believe that curse bullshit he was saying.”

 

Midoriya could think of a few good reasons. “No idea,” he said.

 

Bakugou huffed, folding his arms. The two were quiet for another moment before Bakugou spoke up again. “Can I ask you something else, too?”

 

“Sure.”

 

“Why did you… Why did _you_ come and save me today?”

 

Midoriya raised his eyebrow, finally turning to look at him. “What do you mean, ‘why’?”

 

“You know _you_ had no fuckin’ reason to, right?”

 

He sighed, frustrated. “Kacchan, is this another thing about your pride? I don’t know why you have such a problem with-”

 

“Izuku, shut it.”

 

He froze. _His first name? Why? He hasn’t willingly called him anything other than “Deku” for somewhere around ten years._

 

“K-Ka..?”

 

“Let me rephrase what I fucking said, dumbass.” Bakugou turned himself, making eye contact with him. Midoriya hadn’t gotten a good look at him before, but now he could see more clearly all the details adding up. Bakugou had faint bruise across his face, and even worse ones on both of his wrists, which were also covered in nail marks. He also had a faded black eye, and both of his actual eyes were still red- well, redder than usual- from his earlier breakdown. “Before you came here, before all this shit happened, this-” he gestured to himself, “-is all I ever treated you like. And that was all over petty, childish bullshit. I know I was being an immature little shit, I get it, but I still hurt you like hell. And yet, you still risked putting yourself in the way of an actual, real fucking criminal who did the exact same shit to _me_ , and you didn’t even think twice about it.”

 

“Kacch-” Midoriya stopped, and shook his head. _“Katsuki,”_ he corrected himself, “You… I know you and I haven’t had the best relationship before, but… it’s just like you said- you weren’t a mature person. I mean, of course not, you were just a kid, and you still sort of are now, a-and I know that doesn’t really excuse anything… but it doesn’t mean you can’t still grow from it, and become a better person.” he nodded his head, and gently placed a hand down on his shoulder. Bakugou flinched slightly at the touch, but didn’t try to shove him away as he continued talking. ”But _that_ doesn’t mean you’re not still a person _now._ That’s exactly why, as soon as I thought you might be in trouble... I knew I wanted to help you. You’re still a person, Katsuki, no matter how deserving of one you may think you are.”

 

Bakugou closed his eyes, sighing, and brushed the hand off his shoulder. “Okay, then…”

 

“K-Katsuki, if you wanna talk about it-”

 

“No,” he replied, suddenly. “N-No, just- not right now…” he groaned. “Look, it- it’s been a long day, for the both of us, so just… go get some fuckin’ sleep, okay? Please?”

 

The look of worry on Midoriya’s face didn’t go away. “Well… alright, I guess. Have a good night, Katsuki,” he said, as he left towards his room.

 

“Er, one more thing.”

 

He turned around. “Yeah?”

 

“Could you, uh…” he grumbled, ducking his head again. “Could you… _not_ call me ‘Katsuki’ in front of anyone else, please?”

 

Midoriya stifled a giggle. “Okay, sure thing, Kacchan.”

 

* * *

 

Together with Mina and Sero, Bakugou recapped their meeting in Aizawa’s office to Kaminari the next day. He had missed the entire thing, seeing as he went straight to bed after his checkup from the day before.

 

“So, you’re saying that Aizawa’s actually a good guy, but Kiri’s really just… gone?” Kaminari frowned, sinking in his seat. “Wow, that… sucks.”

 

“Of all the things you could say, you narrow it down to ‘that sucks’?” Bakugou grumbled.

 

“I know, I know, but you get what I mean…”

 

“It sounds fuckin’ scary, though, having to reinvent yourself just to get that Shimura asshole off your back.”

 

“Well, at least we know Kiri’s safe,” Sero assured him.

 

“Exactly.” Bakugou looked down to the floor. “It’s not _him_ I’m worried about.”

 

The group went quiet for a few moments after that, until Ashido tried to change the conversation to a relatively better topic.

 

“Hey,” she started, drawing out the vowel, “Kaminari, how’d your checkup thing from yesterday go?”

 

“Oh, right!” Kaminari sat back up. “They did some tests, and stuff, and everything’s a-okay again. They also gave Aizawa my toxicology report from last week, but he didn’t let me look at it.”

 

“That’s fuckin’ weird,” Bakugou muttered. “Why wouldn’t he let _you_ of all people see it?”

 

Kaminari shrugged, humming a sound as if to say “I don’t know.”

 

* * *

 

“I don’t see it in this drawer, either…” Todoroki rifled through an already disheveled stack of papers and envelopes in one of Aizawa’s desk drawers.

 

“Not in this one…” Uraraka was doing the same, in another drawer. “Are you sure it’s in here, Midoriya?”

 

“It’s got to be,” he said, as he shut a third drawer in the enormous desk. “I overheard Kaminari talking about it, and he said Aizawa has it.”

 

“Well, wherever it is, it’s not in this desk.” Todoroki shut his drawer, too.

 

“Wait…” Uraraka snapped her fingers. “I’ve got it!” she stood up, and tiptoed over to the safebox in the corner of the room.

 

“Hey, yeah, good idea!” Midoriya moved to her side.

 

“He’s probably changed the password by now, though, hasn’t he?” Todoroki asked.

 

Midoriya punched in the code.

 

**1 - 9 - 2 - 2**

 

_Click_

 

“Nope, same password.”

 

 _“Pfft_ , of course that’s what it is,” Uraraka giggled.

 

“That’s strange.” Todoroki knelt to the floor with them. “He didn’t change the code even after someone stole from it?”

 

“Yeah, I guess so. What’s 1922 mean to him, anyway?”

 

“Woah…” Uraraka interrupted, reaching into the open safe. “What the heck are these?” She’d pulled out the bundled stack of named coins.

 

“Oh yeah, I saw those last time I was in here.” Midoriya took a couple of them to show Todoroki, as well. “They’ve got all our names on them, everyone in the house.”

 

“That’s… also really strange.” Todoroki flipped his own coin over in his hands.

 

“Yeah… Let’s see what else he’s hiding.” Uraraka shuffled the coins back together, and continued searching with the other two.

 

“Hey, here we go.” Todoroki pulled out an envelope, emblazoned with the logo of the local hospital. “It’s got Kaminari’s name on it.”

 

Meanwhile, Midoriya’s hands found the film of a photograph. Turning it over, he looked down at the familiar black-haired figure- and an unfamiliar young boy.

 

“Eugh,” Uraraka said, leaning over Todoroki’s shoulder. “Mina wasn’t kidding. He really _did_ drink drain cleaner.”

 

“Hey, you guys…” Midoriya murmured, “Look at this.”

 

The two looked up. “Another picture of Aizawa?” Uraraka asked.

 

“Well, sort of. Look here.” Midoriya pointed to cursive handwriting scribbled on the back.

 

_Shouta Aizawa Sr._

_with_

_Shouta Aizawa Jr._

_1922_

 

Todoroki’s jaw dropped. “Is this… his father? But, he looks _exactly_ the same as Aizawa does now…”

 

“Oh my god…” Uraraka was equally shocked. “So this kid here is _our_ Aizawa?”

 

“So, all those other pictures, and the voice on the recordings, those were all just of Aizawa’s _father?”_

 

“Oh…”

 

“That… that doesn’t make sense. None of it adds up…”

 

* * *

 

“I am pleased to report that everything is back under control,” Aizawa stated.

 

“Except,” Kayama replied, “We no longer have the Ankh objects.”

 

Aizawa nodded. “Tenko Shimura stole the Ankh objects from my safe the night of the play, I’m absolutely sure of it.”

 

“But how will we get them back?” Nezu questioned.

 

“Well,” he continued, “Let us remember that the Ankh by itself is useless- we still have other things he needs.” He paced around the room of the office. “I have no doubt that Shimura will show his face again, before long. And when he does, we’ll be ready for him.”

 

* * *

 

Midoriya wasn’t sure what to think. The newer revelations surrounding the mystery confused him to no end, and he could feel the stress of it all taking its physical toll.

 

Despite the fact that he’d fallen fast asleep the moment he hit his pillow, it wasn't a sleep that lasted. He stirred in his bed, twisting and turning through the visions in his dreams, until his body jolted upright- greeting one of them standing right before him.

 

_“H-Hello?” His sight blurry, he blinked a few times, trying to be sure of what he saw. In the middle of the dark room, just at the foot of his bed, he saw Toshinori standing, surrounded by a faint white glow. “T-Toshinori?” he asked. “Wh-What are you doing here?”_

 

_“You’re not giving up on me, are you, Izuku?” His quiet voice echoed through the twisted, dreamlike state of the bedroom._

 

_“N-No! I would never!”_

 

_“Good.” he smiled. “Because it’s only the beginning.” as Toshinori leaned in a little closer, Izuku squinted. “Eight. Zero, six. One, zero. One, nine. One, eight.”_

 

_“W-What does that mean?”_

 

_Toshinori nodded, and spoke again, matter-of-factly. “Eight. Zero, six. One, zero. One, nine. One, eight.”_

 

* * *

 

“Toshinori!” Midoriya shot up in bed- for real, this time. The room around him was completely normal- dark, quiet, and calm. Todoroki was sound asleep in his own bed, and his vision of Toshinori was completely gone.

 

“Toshinori…” he whispered, mostly to himself. “What does it mean..?”

 

* * *

 

Where one was in a lucid dream, another fell deep into a nightmare.

 

_As he knelt, Bakugou slowly stood up behind him. In a moment of tension, he shoved forward, with a heavy grunt of effort. The dense cardboard crates toppled down right on top of Shigaraki, clanging loudly against each other, and he crumpled to the ground._

  
  
_Panting, Bakugou just watched as the man lay motionless, face down. He didn’t move at all for several minutes, and neither did he._

  
_  
Bakugou sighed. “Asshole,” he whispered. The door was right over there. He could probably find a way through it. Moving slow, he gently stepped over him, and-_

  
_He was halted by the sudden, tight grip on his ankle, feeling its messy, jagged fingernails break through his skin in seconds._

  
  
_“You little fool.”_

 

* * *

 

Bakugou let out a scream as he himself shook awake, flailing his arms and legs before he settled into an upright position, gasping for breath and sweating profusely.

 

“Mmh… Bakugou..?” Kaminari groaned, sitting up in his bed. “You have another nightmare?”

 

“Tch…” Bakugou gritted his teeth. “No… that’s just how I like to greet the morning.” He let himself fall back down onto his pillow, throwing his comforter over his head.

 

Kaminari sighed, scooting out of bed and inching over to his. “You wanna talk about it?”

 

“Fuck off, dude, it’s like three in the morning,” he mumbled, slightly muffled from his blanket.

 

“You know,” Kaminari said, sitting down at the foot of Bakugou’s bed, “I’ve been getting nightmares lately, too.”

 

Bakugou gave a groan- be it one of acknowledgement, or of annoyance, he couldn’t tell, but he continued anyway.

 

“I know I said I don’t remember anything from that night in the cellar- and I really don’t, honestly- but… that’s all mine have been about.”

 

Bakugou was silent for a moment, before he peeked his face out from under the covers. “What do you mean?”

 

“I mean… something weird must’ve happened down there, right? You saw me down there, all freaked out and curled up in a ball. And that’s where they all start- there I am, in that cupboard, the door’s cracked, I’m looking through it, and I’m scared out of my freakin’ mind. I don’t know what any of it means, but, I do know how to help them.”

 

“...Yeah?”

 

“I’ve got kind of an evil dream survival kit- a light under the sheets, play some music to help me sleep, that sort of thing. But, most of all... I try to hang around other people during the day- so I don’t feel alone, you know?”

 

Bakugou laughed. “That’s fuckin’ corny. But… also kinda sweet.” He sat up. “Okay, I’ll tell you what. I’ll hang out with you some more, and Sero and Mina too, and whatever’s giving us bad dreams can duke it out between them, yeah?”

 

Kaminari laughed too. “Yeah. You’re on.”

 

* * *

 

Iida and Tsuyu, who had been gone over the weekend to visit their families, were back at the house by that next morning. It wasn’t long before they had caught up with the latest news in Sibuna’s adventures- the escapade in the office was news to only them, but Midoriya’s dream was news to everybody involved.

 

“So, what were these numbers, again?” Iida asked. He held a pencil and paper at the ready.

 

“Eight, zero-six, one-zero, one-nine, one-eight.” Midoriya repeated the numbers word for word, just as Toshinori had told him.

 

“And this was a dream?” Uraraka also asked.

 

“Well, I must’ve been dreaming. It wasn’t like any ordinary dream I’ve had before, though- it felt so… real.”

 

“That’s weird.”

 

“Yeah, add that to the list of weird things, we’ve got plenty of them.”

 

Tsuyu hummed, mumbling the numbers under her breath. “I wonder…”

 

“You got something, Tsu?” Todoroki asked.

 

“Maybe, I don’t know…”

 

“What is it?” Midoriya’s interest had also been piqued.

 

“Well, while I was at home, I was doing a little bit of reading for fun. Check this out!” She produced a book from her bag. “So, it turns out the ancient Egyptians were pretty big on this thing called numerology.”

 

“Numerology?” Iida repeated.

 

“Yep. It’s sort of, like, an ancient Egyptian version of asking what your zodiac sign is.” She flipped to a page in the book, and quoted text out loud. “The ancient Egyptians believed that all things were alive- made up of particles of life energy, regardless of whether the objects themselves were actually living or not. From these particles, they believed they could be reduced down to divine numbers.”

 

She flipped the page, where the next two displayed a graphic of a right triangle. “The god Osiris represented the first perfect odd number- three. Isis represents the number four, and their son Horus, the result of the the two, was the number five.”

 

“Wow, that’s all so interesting!” Uraraka said.

 

“And there’s more,” Tsu continued, “There’s this thing that shows you how you can find your own number using your birthday.”

 

“How does that work?”

 

“Well, let me show you. I already tried it out with mine.” Tsuyu pulled out her notebook, and a pencil of her own. “What you do is write out all the digits in your birthdate, and add them up. For example, my birthday is February 12th, 2003, so mine is like this.” She wrote out several numbers and some simple math for the group to see.

 

_0 + 2 + 1 + 2 + 2 + 0 + 0 + 3 = 10_

 

_1 + 0 = 1_

 

“The only possible numbers in this system are one through nine, plus eleven and twenty-two. If your result is something besides that, you just add up all the digits again. So instead of being a Ten, I’m a One- It’s as simple as that. And then there’s whole entire chapters over the meanings behind different numbers- like I said, it’s just like zodiac.”

 

“That’s pretty cool!” Midoriya was entranced by the system. “So you can do it for anyone as long as you know their birthday?”

 

“Yep!” She nodded. “I started doing other people’s for fun, too.” She read off a list of similar looking addition problems, marked with names. “So I’m a One, Ochako’s a Seven, Kaminari and Sero are both Threes, Todoroki’s an Eight…”

 

“Can you do mine?” he asked.

 

She smiled. “Sure! When’s your birthday?”

 

“It’s July 15th, 2002.”

 

“Okay, so we just do the same thing, and…”

 

_0 + 7 + 1 + 5 + 2 + 0 + 0 + 2 = 17_

 

_1 + 7 = 8_

 

“Got it!” Tsuyu giggled. “Hey, you’re also an Eight, Midoriya! You and Todoroki match!”

 

Todoroki perked up, and chuckled a little. “We… match, huh?”

 

Midoriya blushed, and laughed a little also. “Y-Yeah, I guess we do.”

 

“Yep!” Tsuyu looked between them both, giggling again. “Perfect matches.”

 

“So, why do you bring this up, Tsuyu?” Iida asked.

 

“Well, I was thinking about the puzzle pieces, and the number rolls on them. Then when Midoriya mentioned the numbers from his dream, it got me thinking that there might be connection to them.”

 

“Maybe that’s the code to one of them!” Uraraka pointed out. “Should we try putting it in?”

 

“Yeah, we should!” Todoroki said. “But not now, we probably shouldn’t take them out in the middle of the day.”

 

“Good idea,” Midoriya agreed. “How about we meet up tonight, in our room then? Sibuna?” He saluted, askingly.

 

“Sibuna!” the others saluted in agreement.

 

* * *

 

Their collective anticipation brought nighttime closer and quicker than they’d thought. With lights out before long, the group moved quickly to meet in the bedroom. Midoriya sat them down in a circle, pulling the shoebox he kept under his bed out. He had kept all the puzzle pieces inside it- the puzzle box, which was pieced back together, the golden rod, the ring, and both of the twin pieces.

 

“Hey, Tsu,” he said, “I think you were really on to something with the numerology thing!”

 

“Yeah?”

 

“Yeah! Look at this!” he wrote down the numbers from before.

 

_8 06 10 19 18_

 

“I thought about the way he said them- he said ‘eight’, but he didn’t say ‘zero-eight’ like he did with all the single digit numbers after it, so I thought there must’ve been something special about it.”

 

“What’d you find?” Todoroki asked.

 

“Well, thanks to Tsu, I think we’ve got it figured out- the rest of the numbers are a date- a birthdate! 06, 10, 19 18- June 10th, 1918.”

 

“Oh, I see!” Iida said. “I’ll wager that must be _Toshinori’s_ birthday.”

 

Midoriya nodded. “Exactly! And check this out, when you do the addition, Toshinori’s number is…”

 

_0 + 6 + 1 + 0 + 1 + 9 + 1 + 8 = 26_

 

_2 + 6 = 8_

 

“...it’s an Eight!” Uraraka finished. “The same as you, and the first number from the sequence.”

 

Todoroki hummed. “So that must be our code.”

 

“Let’s see!” Midoriya picked up the fourth puzzle piece, turning the roll of numbers to match the sequence. “8… 0… 6…”

 

_Creeeaaak_

 

The group was startled by the sudden noise. “Uh, w-what was that?” Uraraka looked around.

 

“Er… perhaps it was the house settling?” Iida suggested.

 

Midoriya continued. “1… 0… 1… 9...”

 

The groaning sound came again, louder, in all directions.

 

“Okay, that’s starting to creep me out.” Todoroki shuddered.

 

Distant, the group could just barely hear Aizawa’s voice call out to the house. “It’s ten o’clock! You all know what that means! You have five minutes precisely..!”

 

“1… 8.” as Midoriya completed the sequence, the groaning sound became even louder than before, drowning out Aizawa’s speech. The incredible noise seemed to make the room shake- and yet, nothing was moving or falling, not even them.

 

“W-What’s going on!?”

 

“Is it an earthquake?”

 

Midoriya dropped the puzzle piece, looking up in awe. “You guys,” he said, “I don’t think that’s an earthquake. I don’t want to alarm anyone, but I think the house might be… coming to life.”

 


	16. Secrets of the Past: Part 1

“Did you guys hear that weird rumbling last night?”

 

“Was it an earthquake? Maybe a thunderstorm?”

 

“I’ll bet it was an alien mothership taking off!”

 

“Mina, give it up about the aliens already!”

 

The next morning, everyone had something to share about the phenomenon from the night before, which had stopped almost as suddenly as it started. The rumbling feeling had left no physical damage whatsoever, but it did leave a lasting impression on its witnesses that night. The five who knew the truth behind its circumstances, however, mostly kept to themselves about it- and closer yet when they were all alone again, together.

 

“So, I’ve been thinking about the fourth puzzle piece,” Iida started. “The fifth one looks exactly the same as it, does it not? Perhaps if Toshinori’s numbers opened the fourth one, it would open the fifth one too?”

 

“Maybe we shouldn’t risk it.” Uraraka shivered in her seat. “Those noises terrified me. I mean, what if it’s a different code, and we put in the wrong one? You don’t think those things are booby-trapped or something, do you?”

 

“Maybe.” Todoroki rubbed his chin. “But we won’t have any way of knowing for sure without another clue.”

 

“A-Actually,” Midoriya stuttered out, “We might have one.”

 

“Huh?”

 

“What was that, Midoriya?” Iida turned to him.

 

“Well, I only found it just this morning.” Midoriya felt around in the pocket of his blazer as he spoke. “I went back to the hollow globe, and, well… I found this.” He withdrew a folded scrap of papyrus, similar to those before it.

 

“Another clue!” Tsuyu exclaimed. “What do we got now?”

 

Midoriya unfolded the grainy paper, and read its contents out loud.

 

_ “My father’s father stands tall _

_ His face and hands together  _

_ turn circles around Isis and Osiris _

_ and Horus, the son, reveals me.” _

 

“My father’s father…” Uraraka repeated. “So, grandpa..? Grandfather!” She quickly deduced.

 

Tsuyu snapped her fingers. “The grandfather clock!”

 

Iida laughed. “Well, that was easy.”

 

“Yes!” Midoriya cheered, excitedly. “Let’s go look!”

 

* * *

 

Together, the group of five huddled around the grandfather clock in the house’s main hall. They watched as it ticked around the current time- about 8:30 AM.

 

“My father’s father stands tall…” Todoroki repeated the cryptic, poetic writing. “His face and hands turn circles… That’s it! The hands of the clock! We’re definitely on the right track.”

 

“Turn circles around Isis and Osiris…” Iida continued. “The two Egyptian deities Uraraka and I portrayed in the school play?”

 

“Yeah,” Uraraka added, “But, where else have we seen those two before..?”

 

“Isis and Osiris…” Tsuyu gasped, suddenly, and hastily reached down into her bag. “My numerology book!”

 

“Whatcha got,  Tsu?” Uraraka leaned over her shoulder.

 

“Look here! It’s that triangle thing from before.” 

 

“I get it!” Iida pointed around the picture. “Horus is the child- the result, if you will-  of Isis and Osiris. They represent the two sides of the right triangle, and Horus is the hypotenuse- the resultant!”

 

“And Horus, the son, reveals me!” Midoriya completed the riddle. “Yes!”

 

“So, we just need to recreate that triangle!” Uraraka held up her finger and thumb. “Ninety degrees- three o’clock!”

 

Todoroki nodded in agreement. “Care to do the honors, Midoriya?”

 

“R-Right.” Carefully, Midoriya reached out, and laid a single finger on the clock’s minute hand. The hand made a ticking sound as he twisted it counter-clockwise, stopping it pointing at 12. Likewise, he did the same with the smaller hour hand, turning it to 3.

 

“Three… o’… clock!”

 

As Midoriya settled the hand into place, the gears of the clockworks could be heard twisting loudly- as the decorative planisphere above the numbers of the clock rotated, revealing a hollow, empty space behind it.

 

“It’s… empty?” Tsuyu pondered.

 

“It is now,” Iida pointed out. “Look, that hole inside it is shaped exactly like..!”

 

“Oh!” Todoroki took the fifth puzzle piece from his pocket. “So  _ this _ is where it was hidden before.”

 

“But Aizawa must’ve found it first,” Uraraka added.

 

“Hmm…” Midoriya mumbled to himself, for a moment, before addressing the group as a whole. “I think it’s time for another Sibuna meeting, don’t you think?”

 

* * *

 

“Seven.” Aizawa slammed the thick, dusty old book onto Nezu’s desk. 

 

“Er, I beg your pardon?”

 

“There are  _ seven  _ of the Ankh objects in all.” he tapped the cover of the book, hard. “They must still be hidden somewhere in the house. If we only had the key…”

 

“But, surely the key is gone by now, is it not?”

 

He squinted. “Not necessarily.”

 

In that same moment, the door swung open without so much as a knock. “Nezu!” Yamada said, enthusiastically, “Have you seen the local paper’s review of the school play?”

 

“Hizashi, how many times must I tell you to knock before coming into my office?”

 

“Of course, of course, sorry, but you should really see this-!”

 

“Mr. Yamada,” Aizawa interrupted, standing up and turning to face him. “Tell me, did you ever discover where it was that Midoriya and Uraraka did their research on that little play of yours?”

 

“N-No, I havent,” he replied. “As far as I know, they did their research entirely from hitting the books.” He shifted nervously on his feet. “Although, I do remember overhearing them talk amongst themselves during the project, and they mentioned something about visiting a man- er, what was his name… Toshinori? Probably a guide at the local museum, or something?”

 

Aizawa raised his eyebrows, looking behind him at Nezu. “Toshinori, you say..?”

 

* * *

 

The five sleuths had all gathered together in the upstairs bedroom, where Midoriya started the conversation. “Okay, now that we have the privacy, we  _ really  _ need to talk. About the puzzle pieces, that rumbling noise, Mr. Aizawa…”

 

Todoroki continued for him. “It seems we activated the fourth piece using Toshinori’s numerology numbers, but I don’t think Aizawa figured out how to open the fifth one while he had it in his safe. He wouldn’t have known the numbers.”

 

“Toshinori’s numbers?” Iida asked. “He may very well have- Toshinori seemed to know Aizawa, so it’s also possible that he knew him.”

 

“M-Maybe, but…” Midoriya shrugged, fidgeting with the fifth piece in one hand. “I don’t think Toshinori’s numbers open this piece. Now, I’m not crazy about this idea, but… I think  _ these  _ ones do.” With his free hand, he took an open notebook out of his pocket, open on a page with the familiar addition equations on them, and showed it to the others.

 

Tsuyu squinted. “Midoriya, these are-”

 

“Yeah.  _ My  _ numbers.”

 

“How can you be so sure though, Midoriya?” Uraraka questioned. “We don’t know what’ll happen if we…”

 

“Y-You’re right. I don’t know what’ll happen if we try this… and, who am I kidding, if it’s anything like the other one, it’ll probably be pretty scary… but we need to take that chance. So I just want to make sure, are we all still on board?”

 

The other four exchanged looks with one another, visibly reluctant- but not backing away. Todoroki nodded. “Sibuna,” he said, performing the salute with his hand over his eye.

 

“Sibuna,” the rest followed as well.

 

“Okay, then.” Midoriya held the piece in both of his hands, and took a deep breath. “Here we go. 8… 0… 7…”

 

_ Creeeaaak _

 

“T-There it is again…” Uraraka winced, leaning into Tsuyu’s side. 

 

Midoriya shuddered, too, but he continued. “1… 5… 2… 0…”

 

Iida shut his eyes, stiffening as if he were bracing for an impact. Todoroki’s hands gripped the rug hard as his eyes darted around towards the ceiling.

 

“0… 2.” As soon as he completed his sequence, he looked up, listening to the groaning sound pick up again, and then… stop altogether.

 

“W-What..?”

 

“Oh… is that it?”

 

Tsuyu let out her held breath. “Well, that was a lot less scary than I thought it’d be.”

 

Uraraka frowned. “Do you think maybe Aizawa really did open the piece, and then seal it back up again?

 

“Uh, y-you guys..?” Todoroki was frozen, staring at the wall behind them. He slowly lifted his shaking hand to point at it.

 

Everyone else turned around, and gasped at what they saw.

 

“W-What is that?”

 

Freezing up themselves, they all watched as the empty wall began to move, molding in on itself completely on its own. Eventually, the impressions formed legible, but cryptic words.

 

**FOLLOW THE VOICE**

 

“Follow the voice...?” Uraraka read it off, as it began to disappear again. “W-What does that mean? Midoriya?”

 

Midoriya, still frozen in fear, shook his head. “I have no idea.”

 

* * *

 

Toshinori sat up in his bed. The sunlight in his open window gleamed through the light prism in his slightly shaky hand, spreading all the colors in its light on the wall.

 

Midoriya knocked lightly on the open door. “H-Hello, Toshinori.”

 

Toshinori still watched the wall. “Tears of glass…” he whispered.

 

“Y-Yes! That’s right! How’d you know about that?” He laid down his bag, and moved to sit on his bedside.

 

Toshinori set down the crystal. “It’s so odd… I put it back...”

 

“Put what back?”

 

“Two steps forward… three steps… back!” Toshinori suddenly jolted, his hand hitting the edge of his bedside table. 

 

Midoriya held onto his hand.  _ Today must not have been his best day… _

 

“I let Father down…” Toshinori’s head lulled forward, his voice choked up. “I couldn’t find them…”

 

“Couldn’t find what?”

 

He looked back up at him. “But you will, Izuku, I  _ know  _ you will. Because you have the power.”

 

“What is the power, Toshinori? Can you tell me about it?”

 

Toshinori leaned in even closer. “I can hear it, you know. It whispers.”

 

“W-What whispers?”

 

“The house! You have to follow the voice within- trust it, listen to it.”

 

“Is that what ‘follow the voice’ means?”

 

He nodded. “The house knows.”

 

“Toshinori, your recordings said your father thought the house was alive… that’s what you meant, isn’t it? But, you once told me the house was evil…”

 

“Oh, no, you misunderstood me. It’s the guardian who is evil.”

 

Midoriya felt uneasy. “Mr. Aizawa…”

 

Toshinori frowned. “They tricked me. I thought they liked me. But all they wanted was the secret…”

 

“Do you mean the treasure?”

 

“But I didn’t tell them.” He leaned back down onto his bed. “I don’t want to live forever…”

 

* * *

 

For the first time in some weeks, Midoriya found himself back in the house’s attic. He hadn’t been up there since he’d first listened to the cylinders with Todoroki- and of course, it was as old and dusty as ever. However, he couldn’t help feeling a newer, different aura from the stuffy room.

 

“Hello..? I’m here… Toshinori said I should listen to the voice..?”

 

Silence. Midoriya sighed, as he paced around the room some more.

 

“Hello? House? It’s me, Izuku! What did you want me to find?”

 

_ Thump _

 

Midoriya jumped. A cardboard box in a nearby corner of the attic toppled over, spilling out its contents onto the floor. The first of them, and old looking newspaper, drifted over to him with its front headline facing up. He kneeled to the floor, picking it up to read.

 

_ Tuesday, April 12th, 1960 _

 

**_Boarding School Founded on Anubis Estate_ **

 

_ Shouta Aizawa Jr., son of the late Shouta Aizawa Sr., has founded a new secondary school on the Anubis estate, with help from his benefactors- Mr. Toshinori Yagi, and Mr. Tenko Shimura. _

 

“No way…” Midoriya read through the article, underneath the photograph unmistakably depicting the three. “Toshinori’s aged, but… Aizawa and Shimura haven’t…?”

 

* * *

 

“This photo was actually taken in 1960?” Todoroki said, as he flipped through the paper. “No idea who this Shimura person is, but Aizawa’s hardly changed, just like the others of him.”

 

“But Toshinori’s aged normally…” Tsuyu tapped her chin. “We know Toshinori knows Aizawa, but, looking at this, it looks like they were once friends. Or business partners, at least.”

 

“Y-You know,” Midoriya said, “Toshinori did say something today about being tricked- or betrayed?”

 

“Also, unlike the other photographs, this one is much more official,” Iida pointed out. “It would seem we’ve actually found proof of his elixir of life, after all.”

 

“Oh, of course!” Todoroki smacked his forehead. “I completely forgot! If that stuff we brought from the cellar was just drain cleaner, then…”

 

“That means the real elixir is still down there somewhere!” Uraraka finished.

 

“So that means…” Iida nodded. “We’ll need to go back down there.”

 

“Well, we shouldn’t jump to that just yet, what about the clue? Follow the voice?” Tsuyu asked.

 

“W-What if it means  _ Toshinori’s  _ voice?” Midoriya asked. “His recordings?”

 

“Here, let me pull them up.” Todoroki reached for his phone.

 

“No-” Midoriya stopped his hand- “I don’t just meaning the recordings. I mean the actual cylinders. What if that’s why I was drawn to the attic after I visited him?”

 

“Ah, one of your feelings?” he joked.

 

Midoriya laughed, rolling his eyes. “Yes, one of my  _ feelings,”  _ he joked back, mocking his voice. “But seriously, though, I think we should give it a try.”

 

* * *

 

“So you’re an old friend, is that right?” The nurse held the door open for him as he stepped into the hallway, following right behind.

 

“Of the family, yes. You see, my father and I knew him.”

 

“I see. Well, I’m sure he’ll be happy to see you. Apart from this one boy he knows, he doesn’t get much visitors.”

 

“A boy, you say?”

 

“Mhm. Younger lad, somewhere in his teenage years. The two seem quite close.” She knocked on the open door. “Sora?” she called. “Sora, there’s someone here to see you.” In his bed, Toshinori was sound asleep.

 

“Er, actually, I wanted to propose a visit for Sora.” He pointed to the painting on his wall. “I happen to work at the house he grew up in, and I thought he might like to visit the old place.”

 

“Oh, well, I’m sure he’d love to.” She stepped over to the side of his bed. “Sora?” She gently woke him up. “You have a visitor.”

 

Toshinori stirred from his sleep, his neck craning up from his pillow. His eyes fluttered open to see his nurse, and the scruffy man at her side.

 

“Sh...Shouta…?”

 

Aizawa smiled. “Hello, again.”

 

* * *

 

_ “Mother and Father have given the house a name- Anubis. I think it’s Egyptian.” _

 

As the group searched through the attic, they let the cylinders play off the phonograph in hopes of picking up on their next clue from the audio.

 

“I still don’t understand what we’re doing up here,” Iida pondered. “We’ve all heard this stuff before, all five of the cylinders.”

 

“Well, technically,” Todoroki replied, “There were six, but that last one was all messed up. It just made this awful screeching noise.”

 

“Yeah, this one right here.” Midoriya held up the sixth cylinder. “It looks so… broken, and damaged, like its about to fall apart. Almost like it could just…” In Midoriya’s grip, the old wax cylinder snapped cleanly in half. The others gasped.

 

“...Be exactly what we needed?” Todoroki finished his sentence, laughing.

 

“Oh… guys, look!” Midoriya reached inside one of the halves of the hollow cylinder, and pulled out yet another rolled up scrap of papyrus.

 

“Yes!” Uraraka cheered. “That’s the stuff!”

 

“What’s it say?” Tsuyu asked. 

 

“Hmm..?” Midoriya unrolled it, and read it off.

 

_ “To find the secrets of the past _

_ look beyond this world through glass.” _

 

* * *

 

He was there to open the door as soon as the doorbell rang.

 

“Yes, yes, come in, please.” He held the door open for the nurse as she escorted the frail man inside.

 

“Alright, there we go, Sora…” She took his coat and scarf as she stepped in behind him.

 

Toshinori stood still in the foyer. He looked up, down, and in all directions. As he warmed up to the inside of the house, he felt his heart warm as it swarmed with the memories of the place.

 

He looked down the hallway, towards the double doors of what was once his parents’ bedroom. He could practically see himself, now, when he was just a boy, when he would play Statues with his mother and father in the lengthy hallway.

 

_ “One, two, three,” he would count, with his eyes covered and back turned. He would stop, and turn around. Nobody… yet. So, he turned back. “Four, five, six,” he continued. He turned around again. There they were! Those sneaky statues were getting closer! He giggled, turning back again. “Seven, eight, ni-” _

 

_ “Gotcha!” He was scooped as by his father’s arms, and twirled around and around, laughing and laughing. _

 

“Oh…” Toshinori put his hand over his heart.

 

“Would you two like some tea?” Aizawa offered.

 

Toshinori stopped, and finally looked back at the man before him. “N-No…! No!” He tripped slightly as he stumbled backwards. “S-Stay away from me!”

 

“Hey, hey, Sora, it’s alright, now.” The nurse caught him. “This is a friend of yours.”

 

“He’s a murderer… a murderer!”

 

“Er… I-I work in a high school,” Aizawa stuttered, “It’s not the worst thing I’ve been called.”

 

She held Toshinori gently, as he quietly sobbed into her shoulder. “I’m sorry, Mr. Aizawa, I don’t think this was a very good idea…I should take him back home.”

 

“N-No, no.” He leaned his arm against the door, stopping them. “I-I’m sure this is quite normal. He’ll calm down.”

 

“I’m sorry,” she insisted, again. As she reached for the doorknob, the weight on her shoulder lifted. Toshinori was looking up again, down the hallway, smiling again in a moment. He seemed to be watching.

 

“Oh…?”

 

_ He watched as the other young boy peeked out from behind the doors. He looked left and right, and skipped off down the hallway, towards the kitchen. _

 

“Oh, Shouta..!” Smiling brightly again, Toshinori stepped away from the two, and scuttled into the living room.

 

_ The boy skipped through the kitchen to the table in the living room, where Toshinori himself sat with his parents. _

 

_ Toshinori’s father smiled. “Well, don’t stand on ceremony now, Shouta, there’s plenty to go around! Tuck in!” _

 

_ “Come on! Let’s sit together!” Toshinori would insist. The other boy was shy, but he still smiled as he pulled up a free chair next to him. _

 

“Oh…!” Toshinori turned back around. Aizawa and the nurse had caught up with him. “We were friends, weren’t we?”

 

“Yes, Toshinori,” he nodded. “Yes, yes, we were.” he turned to the nurse. “May we, er, have a moment?”

 

“Of course.” She nodded, stepping out into the kitchen.

 

“Shouta..?” Toshinori started. “Why… am I here?”

 

“Why, I asked your nurse to bring you, Toshinori.” Aizawa brought him over to a chair in the living room to sit. “I wanted to spend some time together with you, catching up. Do you remember living here?”

 

Toshinori smiled. “You know, my father thinks the house has a mind of its own.” Suddenly, he frowned. “Can you hear it?” he asked, looking around. “It’s crying…”

 

“Yes, yes, Toshinori, it’s crying.” Aizawa put his hands over Toshinori’s. “It’s sad, because it’s lost something.” 

 

Toshinori stood up, still looking around in all directions. “It’s… lost something…”

 

“Yes, that’s right, and you know where it is, don’t you?” He watched as he started walking back towards the hallway. “That’s it, Toshinori, show me where to look.”

 

“Oh…” He stopped in front of the stairs.

 

_ There, on the last step, he saw Shouta crying into his hands. _

 

“Did your father hurt you, Shouta?”

 

He looked away.  _ That was one way of putting it. _

 

Toshinori started up the stairs, while Aizawa stayed right behind him.

 

“Oh…” Even the upstairs office looked exactly the same. Even the cat.

 

_ “But father, he’s my friend!” Shouta would plead.  _

 

_ “He is  _ not  _ your friend!” he would reprimand back, as he tinkered with all his chemicals. “Your job is to discover where his parents have hidden the Cup of Ankh.” _

 

_ “But I’ve tried, father!” _

 

_ He would scowl. “You are to address me as ‘sir’, you useless piece of nothing! Find out where they have hidden the Cup, or I will send you to the orphanage!” _

 

Toshinori gazed sorrowfully down the stairs, down at that same spot.

 

_ “What did he do to you, Shouta? Did he hurt you?” _

 

_ He would stand up, glowering at him with that same expression. “You useless piece of nothing!” he would repeat. “Tell me where your parents hid it, or I’ll send you to the orphanage!” _

 

_ “I don’t know! I don’t know where they put it!” _

 

_ “I don’t believe you!” _

 

He wiped his tears away, as he started back down the stairs. “I remember now, Shouta…” he turned back to him. “After my parents died, I lost you, Shouta. I had no one else to talk to, except my diary in the attic. I counted every day I suffered without them here, like a prison sentence with only you and your wicked father for company…” he gazed longingly back down the hallway.

 

_ “One, two, three,” he would count, with his eyes covered and back turned. He would stop, and turn around. Nobody… yet? “Four... five… six...” he continued. He turned around again. Nobody… “Seven…” he sniffled. “Eight… nine...” And they still weren’t there. But  _ he  _ was. _

 

_ “Nobody can protect you now,” the terrible man would growl. “Where is it!?” _

 

_ The younger boy, slowly becoming more and more like him by the day, would hide behind him. _

 

_ But Toshinori couldn’t hide. _

 

_ “I’ll never tell!” he would say.  _

 

“I’ll never tell,” he said. He turned back to face him again. “I will never tell, Shouta, because the truth is this; I don’t know. As I’ve told you many times, I don’t know.”

 

Aizawa’s dismal face grew into scorn. “I don’t believe you. You  _ have  _ to know! Y-You have to, Toshinori..!”

 

“Is everything alright?” The nurse asked, leaning into the hallway from the kitchen.

 

Toshinori gazed longingly again, up to the balcony, where they stood. Where they  _ had  _ stood. Their smiling faces, gone so fast. But now, it was his turn to smile. “I’m ready to go, now,” he said.

 

“Oh, yes, Sora, I agree.” She glanced at her wristwatch. “It’s going to be late, soon, I do think we should be going.”

 

Before she could leave with him in tow, Toshinori shared one more look with him. “Shouta… I forgive you.” With that, the two departed.

 

Aizawa shut the door behind them, and locked it. All during those last moments, he kept the same scorn on his face. He forced it, harder and harder. But that didn’t stop his plentiful tears from shedding.

 

“Toshinori…”

 

* * *

 

The trip into the attic was where the Sibuna club had left off that day. Unable to make anything of their latest riddle, they called it a night- and Midoriya was the quickest to do so. Exhausted, he fell asleep with no trouble at all.

 

_ It was waking up that he wouldn’t find so easy. His slumber pulled him into dream upon dream- some bright, and full of the glimmer of gold, but others dark and disastrous. Still, at the end of his journey, he found himself back in his warm, peaceful bed once again. He was comfortable, contented, and it wasn’t a peace that he enjoyed alone. _

 

_ He felt his presence there, again, his dim glow in the dark bedroom. After the numerous times Midoriya himself had done so for him, it was his turn to sit at his bedside. _

 

_ “Toshinori…” he smiled. _

 

_ “Goodbye, Izuku, my boy… it’s up to you, now. The quest is yours.” _

 

_ “W-What do you mean?” _

 

_ “Don’t let anyone stop you, my dear, sweet boy. There are others searching- others less pure of heart than you. Remember that you have the power.” _

 

_ “Toshinori…?” He looked up at him, heavy-heartedly, but Toshinori smiled still. _

 

_ “It’s alright, Izuku. Everything’s alright.” he leaned forward, and embraced him in a hug. “But it’s time for me to go. Now, it’s  _ your  _ turn.” _

 

* * *

 

“Toshinori!” he gasped. He sat up in his bed. The morning sunlight shone through his window, glimmering across his sheets and onto him. Todoroki’s and Iida’s beds were both empty, and the bedroom door was open a crack.  _ Oh, it was morning… they must’ve all left, already. _

 

“Hello?” Midoriya asked, and tiptoed out of the bedroom. The upstairs hallway was completely empty, and silent. Not even Aizawa could be heard anywhere. Nobody in the other bedroom, or the bathroom, or anywhere else upstairs.

 

“Anyone else still here?” he called from the upstairs balcony.

 

“...and again, I’m sorry to hear about that...” A voice, faintly, came from downstairs. Midoriya stepped slowly down the stairs. The voice belonged to Uraraka, who was in the middle of a call on the old rotary phone. “...Y-Yes, I’ll be sure to let him know. Thank you.” he watched her start to hang up.

 

“Uraraka?”

 

She gasped, looking up at him. “Oh, M-Midoriya…”

 

He raised his eyebrows. “Uraraka, is there something wrong?”

 

She raised the phone, still in her hand. “That was the rest home who called, just now.” The look of worry on her face spread onto his own. “Midoriya… there’s some bad news.”

  
  



	17. Secrets of the Past: Part 2

“Ochako, we got your text.” Tsuyu opened the door into the upstairs bedroom. “Did something happen?”

 

“Hey, you guys…” Uraraka patted Midoriya’s back, as he quietly sobbed into her shoulder.

 

“Midoriya?” Iida asked. “What’s wrong?”

 

Midoriya slowly looked up, his eyes and his face red from crying, and stained with tears. He struggled to form the four words that he couldn’t get out of his head all morning, but he did. Finally hearing himself say it out loud, he broke down again.

 

“Toshinori died last night.”

 

“Oh…” Tsu covered her mouth with her hand. “That’s awful…”

 

“Midoriya…” Shocked, Todoroki sat down on his other side. “I’m… I’m so sorry.”

 

Midoriya grabbed him into a tight hug, starting to cry more. “He came to me, last night… he sat with me… he spoke to me..!”

 

“Like, in a dream?” he asked. Midoriya sniffled, and nodded against his shoulder.

 

“They said he went peacefully, in his sleep,” Uraraka explained. “That nurse that took care of him, she said his funeral’s already being planned for tomorrow afternoon, and Midoriya’s been invited to attend.” Iida and Tsuyu joined themselves at Midoriya’s side, comforting him they best they could. She wiped one of her own tears. “Also… she says that he left something for you, Midoriya.”

 

He looked up. “W-Wha..?”

 

“A box of his possessions, apparently. Specifically for you.”

 

He nodded, and wiped his eyes. “Alright, t-thank you for telling me…”

 

“Here.” Iida reached into his back pocket, and took out a few bills. “Why don’t you buy him some flowers?” He smiled, gently, with sympathy.

 

“O-Oh… Iida, I can’t accept that...”

 

“Sure you can.” Tsuyu counted a few coins of her own. “They can be from all of us.”

 

“Y-Yeah, that’s a good idea.” Uraraka and Todoroki joined in, too. “Please? We’d like you to.”

 

Todoroki nodded. “You know you’ve always got us, Midoriya. We’ll be here for you.”

 

Reluctantly, Midoriya accepted the four’s change, smiling a little through his sadness. “Thank you, guys… thank you so much.”

 

* * *

 

“So you really don’t remember shit from that night in the cellar?” As Bakugou washed his hands in the school bathroom, he made conversation with Kaminari.

 

“Nope. Nothing after, like, midnight or so.”

 

“That’s… kinda fuckin’ scary.”

 

“To be honest, dude… yeah, it is. I’ve got no clue what happened in the space of like, six or seven hours, and I obviously didn’t fall asleep down there.”

 

“You ever, just, tried to remember?”

 

“Duh, dude, of course I’ve tried…”

 

“No, dumbass, have you actually _tried?”_

 

“Uh…” Kaminari fumbled with his hands. “I, uh, guess I’ve never actually _sat down_ and tried..?”

 

“Well, just try it.” Bakugou shook his hands dry. “Close your eyes and focus.”

 

“Uh okay..?” Kaminari closed his eyes.

 

“Think back to that night. Imagine you’re down in the cellar.”

 

“Uh, okay, I’m down in the cellar…” he repeated.

 

“Okay, and you’re walking down the steps.”

 

“I’m walking down the steps…” Kaminari’s closed eyes seemed to squint.

 

“Do you see something?”

 

“Uh… yeah, yeah, I think I see something…”

 

Bakugou nodded, leaning in closer. “What do you see?”

 

“Uh… it’s kinda dark… I’m trying to find that cupboard, and, uh…”

 

Bakugou closed in even more. “And..?”

 

“And…” As Bakugou got close enough to him, Kaminari suddenly flailed his arms in Bakugou’s direction, and grabbed at his shoulders. “And I’m about to be eaten by a giant tarantula!” He laughed.

 

Bakugou yelped in surprise. “Hey! You fuckin’ dumbass! You scared the hell out of me!” He shoved Kaminari back, hitting the tile wall hard behind him. The force had even knocked one of the tiles off the wall, also hitting the back of his head. Kaminari winced, but still stifled laughter.

 

“...may never find the Cup… not now, we’ve lost the key…”

 

“The fuck did you just say?” Bakugou muttered.

 

Kaminari looked up, rubbing his head. “What? I didn’t say anything.”

 

“...Cup..?”

 

Bakugou raised an eyebrow, looking around for the source of the muffled voice. _The fucking tile._ The tile that he had watched hit Kaminari on the head had been the one covering up the hole, which peeked into Nezu’s office. He pushed his way past Kaminari, as he tried to stand up, and put his ear up to it.

 

“It’s the cup of eternity.” Nezu’s voice.

 

“And this key?” Mr. Yamada’s.

 

“The key is a person,” Kayama’s voice explained. “A person who knows where the Cup of Ankh is hidden. But, unfortunately, Aizawa says the key is now dead, and the Cup could be lost forever.”

 

Bakugou squinted. _What the hell were they doing now..?_

 

“Aizawa will be going to the funeral,” Nezu added. “Let us pray to the gods that he finds something.”

 

“As for you, Hizashi… the chosen hour approaches. It’s time for you to learn all our secrets. Tomorrow night, you will be fully initiated into our society.”

 

“B-Bakugou..?” Kaminari whispered.

 

Bakugou pushed the tile back into place. “What?”

 

He rubbed the back of his head, again. He’d clearly been listening, too. “I… I think I remembered something.”

 

* * *

 

The service for Toshinori was small- outdoors, in the woodsy yard of a chapel in the neighborhood. The majority of the handful of attendees were other residents from the home, and some of its staff. Midoriya was undoubtedly the youngest person in attendance, which drew more attention to him than he cared to have.

 

With help from Iida and Todoroki, Midoriya had been dressed in a comfortable but formal black suit for the occasion. He arrived bearing a large flower arrangement, with thanks to his friends for the donation. The casket was closed during the service, which he found himself thankful for. He didn’t think he could bear to see the sight of him that way.

 

A man Midoriya couldn’t recognize- the chapel’s pastor, probably- had read his eulogy. “And so, today,” he concluded, “We entrust our dear brother Sora to the mercy of the heavens.”

 

“Toshinori…” Midoriya whispered. He sniffled, and wiped his eyes. “His name was _Toshinori,_ you dummy…”

 

“And now, we entrust his body to land. Earth to earth, ashes to ashes, dust to dust.”

 

Midoriya also participated as one of the pallbearers, escorting Toshinori to his final resting place. The whole while, he looked down, expressionless.

 

He watched as he was lowered,, and in time sealed within the ground. Only then, did he lift his gaze from the ground, if for a moment. Those around watched, as well, as the earth gradually enveloped Toshinori. Besides his old nurse, who stayed at Midoriya’s side during the event, there was only one other face Midoriya knew. He was dressed unusually well, cleanly shaven, and wore his long black hair tied back. He held a single rose in his hands. Midoriya seemed to meet his eyes for a moment, as the burial was completed, but quickly averted them. He carefully stepped up to the completed burial, laying the bouquet down on the freshly turned earth.

 

“Goodbye, Toshinori.”

 

The plaque marking the spot was simple- a flat, polished marble square, that read his his name on it. Well, _a_ name, at least. Midoriya just wished it could’ve been the right one.

 

_In loving memory_

_Sora Hiko_

 

* * *

 

“He would’ve been very touched that you came, Midoriya.” Following the burial, the funeral goers had regrouped at the commons of the rest home for the reception and lunch. The nurse had sat down with him to eat.

 

“Thank you.” He smiled, just a little. “I thought it was a very beautiful service.”

 

“A person mourned, is a person loved, child,” The man who had read his eulogy assured him.

 

He nodded. “I’m sure that’s true.”

 

“Now, Sora asked me to give you this.” The nurse produced a box, tied closed with yarn on all four sides. The name ‘Sora Hiko’ was calligraphed on the lid. “It was after we got back from Anubis House.”

 

Oh, he visited the house?” Midoriya asked.

 

“Yes, he did recently, I escorted him. He seemed so much… calmer, after the visit. Contented, almost.” She carefully slid the box across the table to him. “He said you’d know what to do with it. And that ‘it was your turn, now,’ or something.” She chuckled. “Whatever that means.”

 

“Yeah,” he laughed a little, too. “He said something similar to me.”

 

“Would you like to open it now?”

 

“N-No thanks, that’s okay.” Midoriya looked over to his side. The other patrons from the funeral were all there, except for one. “Um… excuse me, please.” Midoriya stood up.

 

* * *

 

Sure enough, he was _there_. It was strange seeing Toshinori’s bedroom so empty and packed up. Stranger still, was seeing Aizawa in there. Even more so, was the second man that he spoke to. Midoriya hid behind the cracked door, watching closely.

 

“What exactly are you looking for, Tenko?” Aizawa interrogated.

 

“Oh, Shouta,” he greeted, singsongingly and sarcastically. “How lovely to see you.” He held out a hand for him to shake.

 

“I wish I could say the same.” Aizawa’s glare was unwavering, and Shimura lowered his hand. “You have something that belongs to me, I believe.”

 

“Oh, the elixir? All gone, I’m afraid, or at least very nearly.” He chuckled. “Same as your supply, I’d imagine.”

 

“I’m not talking about your pernicious theft from years ago, I’m talking about the items you stole from my safe just recently.”

 

Shimura squinted. “No idea what you mean, old man.”

 

“Oh, I think you do,” Aizawa growled back.

 

He raised an eyebrow. “And what would you give, Shouta, in return for these items?”

 

“I don’t do deals.”

 

“Oh, come now, you know that’s not true. Did we not make a deal all those years ago, to get Toshinori out of that house?”

 

“He’d always wanted to sell, he hated the place.”

 

“Fine then, I’ll cut right to it. Where is the chosen one?”

 

“Where are the Ankh pieces?”

 

“We are going around in circles, you arrogant old man! Don’t you realize that Kirishima by himself is completely useless?”

 

Midoriya stopped himself from gasping. _Kirishima?_

 

“If you mean, do I also have the ten acolytes, then yes, it’s all been arranged.”

 

Shimura laughed. “Right, the tipping of the scales of life,” he said in a bitterly mocking tone. “That old legend. But only I know what that really means.” He stepped in closer, glaring him down hard. “Now, you’d better tell me where Kirishima is, or I will soon make you. Because only I know what will happen when the chosen one and the Cup come together.”

 

Aizawa said nothing. He stormed away from him, towards the door. Midoriya ducked away as it swung open, and both men stomped off in opposite directions. Shimura scoffed, and left straight away, but Aizawa remained for one extra moment to close the door behind him. Inevitably, he found what was behind it. In tense, utter silence, Aizawa stared down at Midoriya, who stared right back.

 

* * *

 

“Are you bullshitting us, Kaminari?”

 

“No, I’m not, I swear I’m telling the truth!”

 

“But it doesn’t make any sense!” Ashido waved her hands around, verbalizing her confusion. “You’re telling us that Aizawa and the teachers are a part some freaky cult in the cellar?”

 

“I _know_ it sounds crazy, I know. But you have to believe me! That’s _definitely_ what I saw down there.”

 

“Woah, woah woah, alright, time out.” Sero formed a T with his hands. “Start over… what!?”

 

“T-They came down into the cellar, that night. Just… wandering around in circles, wearing hoods, chanting some weird cryptic stuff, I don’t even know. Something about scales, and a key, or whatever.”

 

“And some weird shit about a cup,” Bakugou added. “Look, you guys, we know what we heard, and Kaminari twice as much.” He furrowed his eyebrows. “Something fucked up’s going on down there, and I wanna know what.”

 

* * *

 

Midoriya’s staring contest with Aizawa resumed even back at his office, at Anubis House. Midoriya sat opposite at Aizawa’s desk, arms folded, frozen in silence. Aizawa wasn’t exactly glaring at him, but the expressionlessness in his face alone was all enough to intimidate him to his core. Finally, Aizawa spoke up first.

 

“Izuku Midoriya,” he said. “I know that _you_ know that Sora Hiko was, in fact, Toshinori Yagi. So, let’s not pretend. I also know that you’re aware of his link to this house.”

 

Midoriya stuttered to speak. “H-He… he told me he used to live here. B-But, who knows? He wasn’t always very clear...”

 

“Listen to me.” He leaned forward, over his desk. “Tenko Shimura is an incredibly dangerous man, and you’ve surely seen that yourself. I can protect you.”

 

Midoriya shook his head. “I don’t know anything else. All I know is that he’s after Kirishima’s dad, for some reason, and his family’s gone into hiding. B-But, you told us that, so…”

 

He closed his eyes. He didn’t speak at all for a moment. “Get out of here.”

 

“W-What?”

 

“You’re dismissed. _Go.”_

 

Without another word, Midoriya stood up slowly, and left the room.

 

* * *

 

Immediately, he went to his own. As if they’d never left, his four friends sat around in the room, looking right up at him as he came in.

 

“Hey, Midoriya!”

 

“Are you doing alright?” Iida asked.

 

“Y-Yeah, I’m okay. Thank you.” he smiled.

 

“How did things go?”

 

“It was… It was hard… but it was also beautiful. It was a really good service.” His voice cracked ever so slightly.

 

Todoroki stood up, and walked over to him. He pulled Midoriya into a gentle hug. “Like I said, Midoriya, we’ll always be here for you.” He patted his back.

 

Midoriya smiled, hugging him back. “Yeah. I know.”

 

“Aww!” Uraraka ran up and hugged Midoriya’s side. Tsuyu and Iida joined in as well.

 

He laughed. “Thank you, guys.” He took a breath. “Okay, then…” He wandered over to his bed, pulling out the box he’d held on to for most of the day. “So… there’s this.”

 

Tsuyu tilted her head. “Is that the box of possessions Ochako was talking about?”

 

“Y-Yeah, I guess so. I was gonna wait to open it with you guys. I-If you want to, that is.”

 

Todoroki nodded. “Yeah. We can open it together.”

 

“Okay, then.” Midoriya sat himself down on the bedroom floor, the others following him and making a circle. Carefully, he undid the yarn holding it together, and removed the lid.

 

The first thing he saw inside was a large, old looking book. It had no title, no author, and no kind of distinctive markings on the brown cover. Midoriya lifted it out, opened it, and flipped through a few pages.

 

“It… looks like some kind of a history textbook- about Egypt, specifically.”

 

“What’s that there?” Iida pointed.

 

“Hmm..?” Midoriya watched as Iida pulled at something from the top of later pages- a ribbon, bound to the inside of the spine.

 

“A bookmark?” Uraraka was also curious.

 

“What’s it marking?” Tsuyu asked.

 

Midoriya flipped to the page. “It’s the beginning of a chapter. ‘The Contendings of Horus and Set’..?”

 

“Oh,” Uraraka perked up. “That’s just the name of the myth we performed at the school play. We know how that goes already, though. Set kills Osiris, Isis uses her magic to revive him, blah blah blah.”

 

“N-Not according to this,” Midoriya flipped past a couple pages. “Look.” he read some of the text off.

 

“To revive her lover, Isis created a water made of pure life energy. Though her magic was great and potent, her creation was not enough to bring the soul of Osiris from the realm of dead. So, she sought a power that would match hers- a power she found in a great treasure. This treasure, forged in the realm of the gods, was the very fountain of life itself, the holy grail- the Cup of Ankh.”

 

“The Cup of Ankh..?” they repeated. The words had a peculiar feeling to them.

 

“Legend has it that, when paired with the water of life Isis created, the Cup of Ankh could bring eternal life to those who sip from it.”

 

Todoroki continued on another page. “Though the power of the Cup and Isis’s elixir did bring Osiris back to life, he could not stay- for his soul had already touched the realm of the dead.”

 

“Yeah, I remember that part.” Tsuyu tapped her chin. “Sort of.”

 

“I don’t remember seeing that other part in our research though,” Uraraka said. “I guess we only really knew half the myth.”

 

Iida rubbed his chin. “So then, what happened to this cup?”

 

Todoroki flipped to another page. “In addition to the secret of her son, Horus, Isis protected the Cup of Ankh, lest it fall into the wrong hands. It was a power that could lead to tyranny, despots, and all-out war. However, just like that of her son, the secret soon came out.”

 

Iida continued. “When Horus was of age, and challenged Set for the throne of Egypt, one of their many quarrels came to be over the golden cup. Their matched conflict was so great that, in the strife, the Cup was shattered- broken into seven pieces, and rendered powerless.”

 

“Of course… of course!” Midoriya exclaimed, excitedly.

 

“What is it?”

 

“Don’t you guys see? This is it! The Cup of Ankh... _that’s_ the treasure we’ve been looking for all along! A cup that makes you live forever…”

 

Todoroki hummed. “It’s no wonder Toshinori was so desperate to keep it safe…”

 

“And that’s why Aizawa’s got the elixir,” Uraraka added. “He must be looking for the Cup to go with it…”

 

“Which reminds me…” Iida spoke up. “We still haven’t gone back to the cellar to find it- the elixir, I mean.”

 

“We should go tonight,” Midoriya affirmed, suddenly.

 

“A-Are you sure, Midoriya?”

 

He nodded. “I made a promise to Toshinori- and we all made a promise as a club. It’s up to us now to protect the secret.” He saluted, with his hand over his eye. “Sibuna?”

 

The others looked between themselves, and nodded, saluting with him. “Sibuna.”

 

* * *

 

Bakugou watched from behind the couch, in the darkness of the living room. Lights out had been called hours ago, but he still snuck around. He watched as the faint light of the porch came on, and the front door opened by none other than Aizawa. Sure enough, he watched as a group made up of some familiar faces walked in. There were a few he didn’t know or couldn’t see, but still some he recognized immediately, like Kayama, and Nezu, and Yamada. There were some that took longer to place, but undoubtedly did Sergeant Kan and Dr. Shuzenji walk in behind them.

 

Bakugou scoffed. _Everyone really_ was _in on it, huh?_

 

The party descended ever so quietly into the cellar. As soon as the silence returned, Bakugou stood himself up, and-

 

_Crunch_

 

_...The hell?_ He looked under his foot. The heel of his slipper had stepped right onto something. Bakugou picked up the cracked object, surprised when he saw it glint slightly red when it entered the light. It took a moment, but he soon remembered it- he was holding the necklace Midoriya had found in the attic, from his initiation. He recalled having thrown it over his own shoulder in a fit- it must’ve skittered under the couch, and stayed there all this time. The big red gemstone on it had cracked when he’d stepped on it.

 

_Well, whatever._ He shoved it into his sweatpants pocket, and hurried to the stairs. He had other things to worry about.

 

* * *

 

With the office empty, Bakugou wasted no time in digging through Aizawa’s laptop. The video chat history was easy to find, and he pulled up the outgoing contact as soon as he found it. The computer dialed for about thirty seconds, until…

 

“Hello…? Bakugou, is that you…?”

 

He gave a sigh of relief. “Kirishima…”

 

The boy on the line rubbed his eye, and brushed his flat red hair out of his face. “How did you call me? And why this late? It’s like, almost one in the morning…”

 

“Kiri, I don’t have much time, but I need to ask you something. What do you know about this society the teachers are in?”

 

Kirishima tensed, slightly, and looked away. “I-I…”

 

“You _do_ know something, don’t you?”

 

He hesitated. “I-It’s my dad… he’s been conned into this weird organization with Aizawa and the teachers…”

 

Bakugou squinted. “So then, all that bullshit he said about you guys having to move..?”

 

He shook his head. “No, it’s not true. I-I’m sorry I lied…”

 

“What’s going on, Kiri? What’s your dad gotten into, anyway?”

 

He took a deep breath. “Well… you remember the school play, right? All those Egyptian gods and stuff you and the others dressed up as?”

 

“Yeah, what about it?”

 

“Well, Aizawa and the others, they… they think all those guys are _real.”_

 

Bakugou raised his eyebrow. “Huh? They believe in all those myths and shit?”

 

He nodded. “They don’t just believe in them. They, like, _worship_ them, and everything.”

 

“And what’s this got to do with you? If it’s not some government secret bullshit, then _why_ did they erase you from the school like that?”

 

“W-Well… they think I’m some kind of, uh… chosen one.”

 

“Chosen one?”

 

“Mhmm. You know that god guy you played, Set? They’re convinced that because I was born with red eyes, and that I have red hair, that I’m apparently a descendant of his- the real Set.”

 

“That’s… really fucking weird...”

 

“Y-Yeah. Then they started telling my dad and I all this scary stuff… about how I had some ‘destiny’ to fulfill, and that they had to hide me away from everyone…” Kirishima had a distraught look on his face. “I… I don’t _want_ to be the chosen one… I want to be at the school, and hang out with everyone from the house, and... just be a normal guy. I want to be with _you._ I… I _love_ you.”

 

Bakugou’s hand, gently, moved onto the screen of the computer. He watched Kirishima’s hand do the same, from his own. They weren't exactly holding hands, but it was close enough for him. “I love you too,” he said.

 

He couldn’t touch him. He couldn’t hold him. But still, he felt _for_ him.

 

“I’m gonna get this shit figured out,” Bakugou said. “I’m gonna help you get out of this. But we need to stay in contact. Can you get ahold of another phone, or something?”

 

Kirishima thought for a minute. “I... think I might have an old one lying around here, somewhere. I know your number, I’ll text you when I find it.”

 

“Got it.” he nodded. “I, uh… I should go, before he sees me in here...”

 

Kirishima smiled faintly. “Okay. Goodnight, Katsuki.”

 

Bakugou stopped. He felt his heart skip a beat, and warmth creep onto his cheeks. “Y-Yeah… goodnight… Eijirou.”

 

* * *

 

The stakeout in the cellar kicked off almost right away for the Sibuna club. Not long after they’d waded their way through the tunnel in the oven, did the more conventional entrance to the cellar open up with following footsteps. The club ducked behind a wall to hide.

 

“Hey, what’s going on? Who is all that?” Uraraka whispered.

 

Midoriya peeked from behind the wall. “I don’t know… I can barely see them…”

 

“It’s time to become a full member, Hizashi,” Aizawa’s voice spoke up.

 

“W-What?” Iida peeked around, also, and so did the other three. The club watched together as a set of familiar faces marched into the cellar, wearing strange robes with hoods covering their heads.

 

“You already know about the elixir of life,” Ms. Kayama’s voice said.

 

“Y-Yes, Brewed by Aizawa’s father, to slow down the aging process.” Mr. Yamada’s voice.

 

“Yes,” Aizawa replied. “Although the elixir alone does not stop it completely, I am living proof of its effects. Tell me, Hizashi, how old do you think I am?”

 

“Um…” he shrugged.

 

Aizawa smiled. “I am ninety-nine years of age. _Ninety-nine.”_

 

“No way..!” Tsuyu whispered. Uraraka clamped a hand over her mouth, and Midoriya’s jaw dropped.

 

“Y-You look amazing for ninety-nine,” Yamada stuttered.

 

“Yes, yes,” Aizawa chuckled. “The elixir is a very potent substance.” he reached into a small cabinet on the wall. “But, unfortunately, this is all we have left.” he held a glass bottle, filled very little with that same dark-orange liquid.

 

“Sadly,” Kayama explained, “Aizawa’s father died in an accident before he could pass on the secret to the recipe.”

 

Nezu continued for her. “Aizawa has tried many times over the years to replicate his father’s recipe- but, alas, he’s been unable to do so.”

 

“None of that will matter soon,” Aizawa assured them. “Once we unite the Ankh with the chosen one, we’ll no longer need the elixir. We can tip the very scales of life, and all become truly immortal.”

 

Another man amongst them spoke up, explaining to Yamada. Midoriya was horrified to have recognized the man, from when he’d last seen him on a computer screen in Aizawa’s office. “Legend has it that when the elixir is sup from the Ankh, the person who has drank it will attain immortality.”

 

“And one day, very soon, we shall achieve this.” Aizawa cleared his throat, and spoke louder. “We welcome you, novice. We deliver you from the valley of the dead, to the mountain of eternal life.” Next, he begun a strange rhythmic chant, with those around him joining in.

 

_“We pledge ourselves to the Ankh.”_

 

_“We pledge ourselves to eternity.”_

 

_“We pledge ourselves to the Ankh.”_

 

_“We pledge ourselves to eternity.”_

 

As the group of adults repeated their chant over and over, the five teens hiding behind the wall watched in horror of what happened next. Aizawa undid the cork of the elixir bottle, poured some into a small bowl, and then added some water. Then, Aizawa reached into a small box- withdrawing, with both hands, a live snake.

 

Midoriya had to bite back a scream as he watched him wring the animal’s neck, causing it to spit out its venom into the bowl. Finally, Aizawa raised the bowl to his lips, and took a sip. As if the sight wasn’t vile enough, the group looked closely enough to see that is was, in fact, not a bowl he was holding- but rather, a hollow human skull.

 

Midoriya gagged, harshly, and the room went absolutely silent.

 

“Did you hear that?”

 

“What was that noise?”

 

Aizawa stopped, setting the skull down, and unfurling his hood. He turned in their direction, and the group scrambled back behind the wall.

 

“Oh no..!”

 

Backs pressed to the stone wall, the club huddled together, shaken in fear. Footsteps started, slow and steady, moving towards them. Uraraka held on tight to Tsuyu, Iida braced the back of his head, and Todoroki and Midoriya felt like they might hyperventilate, had it not been for the need to keep their mouths shut. Dread and terror overtook them all, freezing them in their place as the steps grew closer and closer.

  



	18. One Step Forward...

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> gfbdjkls this chapter is late and idk what im doing

_Thump, thump, thump_

 

The footsteps slowed as they grew louder and closer still. The shadow of the figure was visible on the floor near them, growing taller and taller the closer it approached. Nobody else moved, nobody spoke, nobody even blinked- on either side of the cellar. It was only when the hooded shadow stopped did any sound come again.

 

“It’s only a rat,” Aizawa said. He turned back around and returned to group of adults, resuming the rhythmic chant they’d done before.

 

* * *

 

“That was _too_ close!” Todoroki gasped, as he helped the others out of the oven passage and back into the kitchen.

 

Uraraka frowned. “Mr. Aizawa must really want to stay young… I mean, he just drank snake venom!”

 

“W-We’re not home safe just yet,” Midoriya stuttered. He pulled out his locket, and shut the oven door with it. “We should get to bed. It’s been a long day, for everyone.”

 

Nobody disagreed.

 

* * *

 

Nobody objected, either, to a summit of the club members the next day- further privacy than simply a bedroom in the house. As the sun rose high at noon, the five members of Sibuna met back up at the old willow in the woods.

 

“Okay,” Midoriya began. “After seeing what we saw last night, I think our biggest priority should be looking for the Cup. It’s not just a treasure hunt anymore… it’s a race.”

 

Todoroki nodded. “We need to find it before they do. I mean, imagine what Aizawa could do with the secret to eternal life? We could be talking world domination, here.”

 

Tsuyu giggled. “Mr. Aizawa’s idea of world domination is probably seven billion people in bed by ten o’clock.” Her lighthearted joke easened the mood some, earning laughs from the others.

 

“Okay, okay, but seriously,” Midoriya continued. He reached into his backpack and retrieved the bundled up blanket that had been inside it. He undid the roll onto the forest floor, revealing all five of their mysterious objects to the open. “These objects- puzzle pieces, or whatever, they’re the key somehow. But, until we have them all, we won’t know exactly what means.”

 

“Right.” Uraraka cleared her throat. “Okay, guys, let’s get our brains in gear. ‘To find the secret of the past, look beyond this world through glass.’ What do we think?”

 

“And, er, it’s not a mirror, before anyone suggests that,” Iida said. “After we got the riddle, I tried looking at every mirror in the house I could find- nothing.”

 

“You can’t see through mirrors, anyway, can you?” Tsu added.

 

“I-I suppose not. That’s a good point.”

 

“But what else in the house is made of glass?” Uraraka asked.

 

“A window, maybe?” Todoroki suggested. “You look through those, don’t you?”

 

“Hey, that could be it!” Midoriya agreed. “Good one, Todoroki!”

 

He smiled. “Y-Yeah, thanks.”

 

“Uh-oh,” Iida said. He tapped at his wristwatch. “Have you all seen the time? We were due back from our lunch period five minutes ago.”

 

“Oh, alright.” Midoriya packed the puzzle pieces back up. “I, uh, I gotta go put these away. I’ll go put them behind the panel in the attic, for safekeeping, and then I’ll meet up you guys after.” He saluted. “Sibuna?”

 

“Sibuna!” The others saluted back.

 

While the other three set back off, Todoroki stayed behind for an extra second to help Midoriya pack. “I’ll see you in class. Be careful up there, okay?” He said.

 

“Of course. I’m always careful.” He shrugged, chuckling a little. “Well, almost always.”

 

* * *

 

“Urgh..!” Bakugou groaned, frustratedly, as he turned over his mattress yet again. “Where the hell is it!?”

 

“Where’s what, dude?” Sero replied, stretched out on his own bed. “You’ve been complaining for, like, ten minutes.”

 

“My fucking phone! I’m expecting a message…”

 

“Well, where’d you have it last?” Kaminari suggested.

 

“I don’t fucking remember? I haven’t seen it for a few days.”

 

“Try retracing your steps?”

 

Bakugou rolled his eyes. “Of course I’ve tried that, dumbass…”

 

“Maybe it’s not in the house, then?” Sero said. “You could’ve left it at school, or something. Maybe it’s at the lost and found bin?”

 

“Or you could’ve dropped it outside somewhere?” Kaminari added.

 

“I guess…” Bakugou flopped down onto his trashed bed. “Fuck, I don’t even know... ”

 

* * *

 

The faintly daytime-lit attic welcomed Midoriya, easily. With the panel shut back tight, and the puzzle pieces safe and sound, he felt like breathing again. The serenity of the attic was just what he’d needed. He felt like sitting for a while, despite knowing very well that he was running late for class. But still, he couldn’t help wanting to stay, taking advantage of the quiet environment, and soaking up the sunlight from the tall window.

 

 _….Hey, a window._ Midoriya thought back to the riddle. _Look beyond this world through glass…?_

 

He stepped up the the window. It was tall, and made of stained glass. It wasn’t quite as extravagant and saturated as the one in the foyer, nor did it seem to also catch the light straight from the sun, or have any unique, treasure-pointing properties at all- but it was a wonderful work of art regardless. Alike to that one, though, was that it depicted a red sun in a warmly colored sky.

 

Green was always Midoriya’s favorite color. But, recently, for a number of reasons, he felt himself growing on the color red.

 

“You know, I’ve suspected for a while now that somebody was still coming up here.” A voice from behind him ran his blood cold. “And now, I know who.”

 

…The color black, however, was a different story.

 

“M-Mr. Aizawa?”

 

“Tell me, Midoriya, what is it up here that you find so interesting?”

 

“U-Um…” Midoriya stuttered. When he didn’t properly respond, Aizawa stepped forward, walking in a circle both around him and around the attic.

 

“What is this..?” He stopped in front of the phonograph, untouched from the last time Midoriya had been up there. “This is an antique, it could be very valuable. Have you been tampering with it?”

 

“N-No… I-It looks like junk to me,” he lied. “Really boring, irrelevant junk.”

 

Next, Aizawa found an old cardboard box, full of older looking files and papers. Midoriya recognized the newspaper article, as well. “Have you been going through this?” Aizawa interrogated, again.

 

“No.”

 

He glared at him. “What is your secret, hmm? Why are you up here?”

 

“Uh… S-Sometimes, I just need to get away to think. My attic at home is sort of like a zen retreat to me, you know?”

 

“Well, Midoriya, you’re a long way from home. You can forget about any more me-time in this attic- I’ll be putting a padlock on that door. Now, if I were you, I would get off to school- unless you’re seeking even further discipline.”

 

Midoriya shrunk back. “R-Right… of course, sorry.”

 

* * *

 

Bakugou grumbled as he locked up his bike. It wasn’t at lost and found, it wasn’t at the house, nor could he find it anywhere else outside. _How the hell could he completely forget about his cellphone?_ He could barely remember the last time he’d used it, which wasn’t since…

 

_...Eugh._

 

 _Could it have dropped around there, then?_ He mulled over the thought of going back to that place, but quickly shook the thought from his mind. There was no way that’d be worth it. Not as long as he was still out there, somewhere. Hopefully, he thought, that somewhere was miles and miles away from him. But, as they say, speak of the devil, and he shall appear- apparently, thinking it was still enough.

 

“Looking for this?”

 

 _Oh_ hell _no._

 

Bakugou stiffened, turning around at the voice. There, of course, he was, dangling the exact object he’d been scavenging for all day between his messy-nailed fingers.

 

“G-Get the hell away from me!” He clenched his fists, stumbling backwards. “Go away!” he screamed.

 

Shimura chuckled. “Oh, come now, is that any way to greet an old friend? Or rather-” He waved the cellphone in his hands- “Friends?”

 

Bakugou shivered. “W-What are you talking about? What the hell do you want!?”

 

“Why, to give this back to you, of course.” He tossed it his way, and Bakugou just barely caught it before it could hit the ground. “I guess I forgot to give it back before, after our little… outing. But it’s not like I have need for it anymore, anyway. I copied the number.”

 

“W-What number?”

 

Shimura simply smirked, looking between him and his phone. Bakugou turned it on. There, on the lockscreen, was a single notification.

 

_XXX-XXX-XXXX_

_Hey man! It’s Kiri, I found the old phone,_

_text me back when you get this :)_

 

He looked on, horrified. “Y-You..!”

 

“I may not know the password, but that little ping was all I needed. I can trace the phone number back to an address, and be well on my merry way to see him.”

 

“Don’t you dare!” he screamed. “Don’t you dare lay a hand on him!”

 

“It’s nothing personal, Bakugou.”

 

“Why the hell is he so important to you!? What the hell is so special about the chosen one, anyway!?”

 

Shimura looked surprised. “Ah… So you _do_ know about that, after all?”

 

“Damn right. I also know about the Cup of Ankh, and your little fuckin’ cult in the cellar with the teachers.”

 

He grinned. “Well, it seems you’re much further caught up then I thought. Then perhaps we can help each other out.”

 

“Why the hell would I wanna help you, asshole?”

 

Shimura’s grin turned into a frown. “Well, you help me find the Cup, and _I_ won’t be sure that the worst will be for Kirishima.” he smiled again. “Is that understood?”

 

Bakugou gulped, clenching his teeth. “F-Fine… what do I have to do?”

 

* * *

 

Midoriya lay against the wall of the bedroom, leaning against the low windowsill, gazing out the open window. The breeze from outside blew gently across his face, and for the first time in a while, Midoriya truly felt… calm. Todoroki sat on his bed, strumming quietly and slowly at a guitar. The gentle notes added even more to the relaxing state he felt.

 

“I… didn’t know you played guitar, Todoroki,” he said.

 

Todoroki shrugged. “I only know a few things, but I’m still learning. Pretty nice, huh?”

 

“Y-Yeah, it is,” he said with a smile.

 

He stopped, setting the instrument down, and moved to sit next to him on the other side of the window. “So, uh… you doing okay?”

 

Midoriya hummed. “I guess I’m just a little bummed, after what happened up in the attic.” he sighed. “It’s just- sometimes it feels like it’s always one step forward, and, like, five steps back…” he settled his head on the windowsill, gazing up at the partly cloudy night sky.

 

Todoroki did the same. “The moon looks nice tonight,” he said, as he pointed out the luminous crescent in the sky. “Beautiful, isn’t it?”

 

Midoriya’s eyes glanced in his direction, watching the breeze ruffle through his multicolored hair, and the smallest hint of a smile grow on his face. “Yeah… really beautiful.”

 

“Hmm…” Todoroki looked further up. “Look beyond the world through glass…”

 

Midoriya chuckled. “Yeah, maybe if we say it out loud a hundred more times, we’ll hear something new.”

 

“No, look!” He pointed towards the sky again. “Beyond the world- stars!”

 

Midoriya gasped, lifting his head. “Oh…!”

 

He turned to face him. “And how do people normally look at stars?”

 

“Through a telescope!”

 

Todoroki nodded, excitedly. “There’s an old one in the living room! Let’s go look!”

 

* * *

 

“So, uh, what are we looking for?” Tsuyu asked, as Midoriya pushed his face further onto the telescope.

 

“I-I don’t know, I can’t see anything…”

 

“Hmm, ‘beyond the world…’” Iida mused. “The moon?”

 

“Maybe… try focusing it there, Midoriya.” Uraraka helped him adjust the lens.

 

“Do you see anything?” Todoroki asked.

 

“Er, maybe… yes! Yes, I see something! But I can’t make it out…” he stepped back. “Can you?”

 

“Yeah, let me try.” Todoroki focused one eye on the lens. “Hmm… there’s something scratched onto the lens- words! And the moonlight is showing them.”

 

“What’s it say?”

 

Todoroki read their next riddle aloud;

 

_“Unleash the power, light your way._

_Find the demisphere hidden below.”_

 

“Yes!” Uraraka cheered. “We’re back in business! Sibuna!” she saluted.

 

“Sibuna!” The others cheered.

 

_Ding, dong_

 

As if on cue, the grandfather clock tolled nearby. “It’s ten o’clock, you all know what that means.” Aizawa said, as always. He turned in their direction, and stepped into the living room. “Doing a little stargazing, are we?”

 

“Oh, us? N-no..!” Midoriya stuttered. “You see, we were just-”

 

“Don’t try to lie to me, Midoriya,” he said, “You have _no_ talent for it.” Midoriya went completely silent at that. “Now, then, let’s see what’s caught your eyes, shall we?”

 

Aizawa bent his knees, and peered into the lens of telescope, nobody spoke, but only looked around between each other as the tension settled down on them. For a moment, he turned one eye back at them, and then back to the lens. Finally, he stood back up.

 

“Only you lot,” he said. “Only _you_ all would pick such a cloudy night to stargaze.”

 

“O-Oh! Y-Yeah, our bad. Duh...” Midoriya laughed, awkwardly.

 

Aizawa was unimpressed, as always. “Get to your rooms, all of you.”

 

* * *

 

“The riddle definitely said to ‘find the demisphere hidden below’...” Midoriya pondered over the riddle. The club had met again the next morning, simply at the dining table.

 

“A demisphere is a half of a sphere, yes?” Iida added. “There’s also the part about ‘hidden below’.”

 

“Does that mean it’s hidden in the cellar?” Tsuyu suggested.

 

“Could be,” Todoroki replied. “And we still need to go back down there to find the elixir, anyway- and this time, we know where he keeps it.”

 

“Right.” Uraraka nodded. “We need to back down there, again.”

 

“I’ll go.” Midoriya spoke up, suddenly.

 

“What?” Todoroki turned to him. “Are you sure?”

 

He nodded. “We can’t risk all going down there at once, not after last time. I’ll go down there.”

 

* * *

 

That same night was the night to strike. With Aizawa out late, Midoriya had no trouble tiptoeing down the stairs, with Todoroki and Iida behind him. Uraraka and Tsuyu waited at the bottom of the stairs, flashlights lit.

 

“Alright,” Uraraka whispered, “We’ll be right behind you, Midoriya.”

 

“Got it.” he nodded, drawing the locket from his shirt. “Let’s go.” As the group moved to the kitchen, they tried their best to stay absolutely quiet. However, the sudden noise from inside it, didn’t.

 

“Wait!” Iida stopped them. “What’s that noise?”

 

Midoriya stifled a gasp, peering into the kitchen. “Is that… Kacchan?”

 

“Bakugou?” Todoroki looked over his shoulder. “What’s he doing down here?”

 

“Midnight snacking, maybe?” Tsuyu said. The group watched as Bakugou rifled quietly through a cabinet.

 

“Okay, plan B.” Uraraka motioned for them to follow back out into the hallway. She pulled a pin out of her hair. “We’ll have to use the main entrance, but we gotta hurry.”

 

“Right.” Midoriya took the pin, and began to pick the lock.

 

“Let’s go wait on the stairs,” Tsu suggested.

 

“Got it.” Midoriya clicked to door open. “I’ll meet back up with you guys in just a few minutes.” With that, Midoriya descended into the cellar, and closed the door behind him. The other four tiptoed back up to the stairs to wait for him.

 

_Vrrrooom_

 

“Wait, what was that?”

 

“Was that Bakugou, again?”

 

“No, that sound just now came from… outside?” Todoroki gasped. “That sounds like a car- Aizawa’s car! We need to hide!”

 

* * *

 

The elixir was easy to find, in the same cabinet on the wall he had seen two nights before. Midoriya quickly pocketed the glass bottle. _Now for a demisphere..?_

 

He thought it over some. _Iida said a demisphere was half a sphere, right?_ _Maybe he was looking for a bowl._ And yet, despite all the different bottles, containers, jars, and whatnot around the cellar, there wasn’t any kind of bowl to be found.

 

“Come on..!” Midoriya huffed with frustration. But the groan of the door opening quickly shut him up.

 

Once he spotted the tall shadow moving along the dimly lit wall, he ducked back around the corner. _Of_ course _he had to come back now…_

 

However, he didn’t stay long. Aizawa remained in the cellar for only a few minutes- rearranging some of the many beakers and bottles, and hanging up his coat on a hanger. Scratch that- his cloak. Midoriya shuddered, recognizing it again from two nights before.

 

He took a deep breath after he finally left, waiting five more minutes before moving himself. Whatever the demisphere was, it must not have been down there after all. He’d had enough for the night anyway.

 

Midoriya carefully tiptoed back up the creaky wooden stairs, up to the door. One gentle push… and the door was locked shut.

 

“Crap..!” The oven would be locked from the outside, _and_ this door was locked, too. _He was trapped._

 

He knocked, gently, leaning into the door. “Guys..?” he knocked, again. “Hello? Anyone!? Let me out of here!”

 

Almost as quickly as he breathed, the door swung open, and Midoriya fell forward into a figure, grabbing on and hugging to him tightly before he could think to do anything else.

 

“Oh, Todoroki!” he gasped. “Thank you, thank you so much!” He pulled away, slowly, and looked up at… _not Todoroki._

 

“The fuck are you doing, Deku?” he muttered.

 

Midoriya flushed pale. “K-Kacchan..?”

 

Bakugou shoved him away from him. “I asked you a question, dumbass, the fuck were you all doing?”

 

“All..? Y-You heard us?”

 

“Do you think I’m fucking stupid?” He growled. “Of course I could hear you idiots from the kitchen.”

 

“O-Oh, I-I… we were-”

 

“Looking for the Cup of Ankh?”

 

If Midoriya wasn’t frozen in fear before, he sure was now. “Kacchan… how… how do you know about that?”

 

“I know plenty, but I _need_ you to tell me more. What do you know?”

 

“N-Nothing!” he lied. “W-Well, not much… j-just, please go-”

 

“Liar!” He pushed him again.

 

“S-Stop that!” Midoriya pushed him back, harder. Bakugou tripped over his own foot, and fell to the floor, with a loud thud and a muffled crunch. Midoriya gasped. “S-Sorry, Kacchan… b-but you just-!”

 

“Forget it,” he mumbled, stumbling to his feet.

 

“Huh?”

 

“I said forget it! Do you wanna get _him_ down here too!?” Bakugou threw his hand in the direction of the stairs, as he slowly stepped toward them. “Just fucking forget it.”

 

* * *

 

Midoriya trudged upstairs himself, and into his own bedroom.

 

“Oh, there you are!” Todoroki sighed in relief.

 

“Midoriya?” Iida greeted him. “Did he catch you?”

 

“N-Nope! Aizawa didn’t catch me.” Well, _that_ much was true, at least.

 

“Did you get it?”

 

He nodded, pulling out the glass bottle from his pocket.

 

“Yes! Nice one, Midoriya!” Todoroki cheered. Midoriya smiled.

 

“What about the demisphere?” Iida asked.

 

“Oh, uh… I looked, but I couldn’t find anything that looked right.

 

“Hmm… perhaps it’s not in the cellar after all, then?”

 

Todoroki shrugged. “I guess not. But, I think that’s enough mystery for tonight, it’s getting late.”

 

“Y-Yeah. Goodnight,” Midoriya said, as he climbed into his bed.

 

“Goodnight.”

 

“Goodnight.” Todoroki clicked off the lightswitch, as he and Iida headed to their own.

 

Though it wasn’t hard for Midoriya to fall asleep, he could only think about those same words until he did.

 

_“Unleash the power, light your way…”_

 

* * *

 

Bakugou winced as he himself tried to lay back down in his bed, only to be aggravated by the sharp feeling on his outer thigh. He had hit the floor pretty hard, but it still felt like something was stabbing at him.

 

Sure enough, feeling around in his pocket, he winced again when something scraped at his fingertip, just enough to draw a small bead of blood. His pocket was full of shards of glass- red glass, and not because of blood.

 

 _That damn necklace._ After he’d found it cracked on the living room floor, he’d just shoved it in his pocket, and now the cracks had grown to break the red stone into pieces altogether. Said pieces were all tiny, for the most part, almost ground into dust under the weight of the impact- but what he found strange was the largest of the pieces.

 

That piece of red and gold, seemingly unbothered from the stress, was completely intact, and just so happened to still be attached to the chain that made it a necklace. Stranger still, to him, was how it seemed to be shaped exactly like an eye.

 

* * *

 

_“Unleash the power, light your way…”_

 

The words haunted Midoriya the next day, too, everywhere in the house he went. It was almost as if someone was whispering the phrase right into his ear.

 

_“Unleash the power, light your way…”_

 

He stopped, standing still. It took a moment for him a process where he was- he was standing in the foyer, looking up at the chandelier. _The good old tears of glass, huh?_

 

_“Unleash the power, light your way…”_

 

“What is so fascinating up there, Midoriya?” Midoriya snapped out of his daze, as Aizawa caught his attention from the stairs.

 

“O-Oh… nothing, nothing…” He hurried off into the living room, sitting down on the sofa.

 

_“Unleash the power, light your way…”_

 

He sighed. _There it was again._ What did any of it even mean?

 

He felt around under his collar, finding the eye of Horus locket and clicking it open. There was the same picture of Toshinori- young, smiling, happy.

 

“I’m so close, Toshinori,” he whispered. “I can feel it…”

 

_Clang!_

 

Midoriya jumped at the sound in the hallway, behind him. He watched from the doorway as Aizawa set up the metal stepladder, right underneath the chandelier, and prepared to climb it.

 

“N-No…!”

 

“Mr. Aizawa!” Todoroki called, from the top of the stairs.

 

He groaned, stopping part way up the ladder. “What? What is it!?”

 

“It’s Kaminari! He’s collapsed again!”

 

Aizawa grunted, stepping down from the ladder and hurrying up the stairs.

 

“What?” Midoriya gasped. “What happened to him!?”

 

“Nothing, I lied! He’s fine!” Todoroki whispered, hurriedly, once he was gone. “Now’s your chance!”

 

Midoriya’s eyes widened. “Oh..! Right!” He hurried up and onto the ladder, trying his hardest to ignore the wobbling.

 

_“Find the demisphere…”_

 

“Demisphere… demisphere?” Midoriya rifled through the hanging crystals of the chandelier.

 

_“Find the demisphere hidden below.”_

 

“Hidden below…?” There, on the base of the chandelier, Midoriya felt a round cover- almost like the lid of a jar, but upside down. It pulled away with a good tug from him, revealing a flash of gold from the inside as the inner contents fell to the floor- sounding a loud clink that would surely give Aizawa’s stickpin envy.

 

“Todoroki!?” came from upstairs.

 

“That’s it!” Midoriya refastened the lid and hurried down, all but jumping off the ladder.

 

“Got it!” Todoroki picked up the piece, and hastily shoved it into his pocket.

 

“Todoroki!” Aizawa said, again, irritatedly. “What on Earth do you mean, he’s collapsed? Kaminari is just asleep in his bed!”

 

“O-Oh, is he?” Todoroki asked, feigning innocence, and rubbing the back of his head. “My bad!”

 

Aizawa groaned, yet again, waving them off. “Just… go! Go on, then!”

 

“R-Right! L-Let’s go, then, Midoriya.” Todoroki grabbed his wrist, and led him away, upstairs.

 

* * *

 

The two boys were entranced by the newfound puzzle piece. Like all before it, it was a golden object, with a unique shape- affixed onto a short but wide cylindrical axis, multiple curved plates of gold stacked on each other. Midoriya thought the shape resembled a blade from an electric fan, but more bent.

 

“What’s that there?” Todoroki reached out for it. Wedged between two of the thin gold plates, he picked out the corner of a paper scrap.

 

“The next riddle!” Midoriya cheered. Together with Todoroki, the two unfolded the new scrap of papyrus, and read the riddle out loud.

 

_“Inside the crown of my enemy’s pride is where the final relic hides.”_

 

“Wow… the final relic?” Todoroki laughed. “Yes! We’re so close!”

 

“Yeah!” Midoriya agreed. “B-But... _whose_ enemy...?”

 


	19. A Game of Cat and Mouse

“I’ve been waiting to hear from you.”

 

“R-Right, sorry…” Bakugou kept his voice at a low mutter, even despite the fact that he was alone in the room while on the phone. “I don’t have anything concrete, yet… b-but I’m working on it.”

 

“Well, I hope so,” Shimura replied. “Because I don’t take kindly to silly boys messing me around.”

 

“Y-You’ll get what you want, don’t worry,” he choked out, trying to hide the crack in his voice. “I promise.”

 

Shimura moved the microphone on his own cell closer to his mouth, amplifying his voice on the other line. “Make  _ sure  _ I get what I want. By tomorrow, mid-day, same place.” A shift, and crackling sound of feedback, and the call hung up.

 

* * *

 

“‘The crown of my enemy’s pride’…?” Uraraka read the riddle, questioningly. “That’s got to be the strangest one we’ve gotten yet.”

 

“And the most specific,” Iida added. “Is this an enemy of Toshinori’s? His parents?”

 

“Still, though, the final relic…” Midoriya smiled. “I can’t believe it… we’re almost there!

 

“‘Crown’... ‘crown’..?” Uraraka repeated, again.

 

Tsuyu giggled. “You sound just like the cat, Ochako!” she said.  _ “‘Crrrrrooooowwwn’.”  _ Uraraka shared her laughter.

 

“The cat..?” Midoriya gasped. “That’s it! Good job, Tsu!”

 

She smirked, raising an eyebrow. “Uh, thanks..? But what do you mean?”

 

“I get it,” Todoroki said. “Not just any cat-  _ the  _ cat. The stuffed one in Aizawa’s office- he’s the pride and joy.”

 

“Oh…” Uraraka hummed. “So, you’re saying Aizawa is the enemy?”

 

Midoriya shook his head. “Well, not in this case. At least, not  _ our  _ Aizawa.”

 

“‘Our’ Aizawa?” Iida questioned.

 

Midoriya held the shoebox in his lap- the one he’d kept under his bed, up in his room. Though the other five puzzle pieces were gone from it, hidden away in the attic, other mementos of the mystery were tucked inside it, while Todoroki had been holding on to the new puzzle piece. “Remember this?” Midoriya asked, drawing out a photograph film.

 

“Right, the picture of Aizawa and his father,” Todoroki pointed out.

 

“Yeah! If he’s been around the house for that long, there’s got to be other stuff that belonged to him around, too. And I’ll bet Mr. Aizawa takes after more than just his looks.”

 

“So you’re saying his stuffed cat is a hand-me-down?” Tsu asked. “That’s kinda creepy… but still, great deduction!”

 

“So the final clue is inside it…” Iida nodded.

 

“Yeah, I think so…”

 

“Aizawa’s out right now, actually,” Todoroki said. “I’d say now’s our chance. Midoriya?” He turned to face him.

 

He nodded. “Yeah. Let’s go.”

 

* * *

 

“I’m telling you, they are up to something!” Aizawa slammed his palm on the desk.

 

“But how can you be so sure?” Kayama argued. “They may live in the house, but they’re still just students.”

 

“They’ve been acting very strange, as of late,” he said. “Meddling with objects around the house, and lying straight to may face. One of them was even in contact with Toshinori Yagi! Who are we to assume they  _ aren’t  _ on the trail of the Ankh objects!?”

 

“Er… perhaps he does have a point,” Nezu said. “We can’t take any more risks than necessary-  _ and,  _ not to mention, we’re running out of time.”

 

Aizawa nodded. “I need time to search the house thoroughly, from top to bottom.”

 

“Don’t you remember your little incident with the cameras?” Kayama said. “The students and their parents will be up in arms! We can’t just search the place!”

 

“Not unless, we had a good reason to search,” he pointed out. “I have an idea.”

 

* * *

 

Together, Midoriya and Todoroki ducked into the silent office- the door left open in it’s owner’s hurry. There standing tall on the desk as always, was the taxidermied cat. Its soulless eyes stared right through the duo as they stepped up to it.

 

“Uh..?” Midoriya poked and prodded at the animal, too afraid and slightly disgusted to do anything further.

 

“Try… turning its head?” Todoroki suggested.

 

Midoriya looked up at him. “Excuse me?”

 

“It said ‘inside the crown’, right? Maybe that’s just a fancy way of saying it’s in its head?”

 

“Uh, okay?” Midoriya reached onto its neck. “I’ll try wringing its neck, but I don’t think that-”

 

_ Rrriiippp _

 

The head of the stuffed animal tore away from the body, right into Midoriya’s hand. He let out a loud sound of disgust, gagging and turning a shade of green that he  _ didn’t  _ like.

 

“Oh, that’s so gross..!”

 

“Eugh…” Todoroki was equally sickened. “I… think I see something?” with two fingers, he hesitantly reached into the separated head, pulling out a small object. Midoriya eased slightly to see it was golden in color.

 

Todoroki turned the object over in his hands. It resembled a bottlecap, almost, both in shape and size. On the top of it, engraved in the golden metal, was a single bold, black word.

 

**END**

 

“End..? What does that mean?” Midoriya asked.

 

“Maybe it means we’ve come to the end of the search?”

 

“So then… where’s the Cup?”

 

_ Slam!  _ The front door shut downstairs. 

 

Todoroki whipped around toward the office window. “Damn it, he’s back! We need to hurry!”

 

“Uh..!” Midoriya scrambled to balance the cat’s head back on its body, making sure it stayed put and front facing. Moving quickly but quietly, the two dashed from the office toward the bedrooms, before Aizawa could see them from the first floor.

 

Not that he would have anyway, though- he was preoccupied.

 

Aizawa looked around the first floor, confirming he was alone, before pulling the thin sheet away from the caged crate. His new guests scurried around inside the box, eager to get out and about.

 

“Welcome to Anubis House, my furry little friends.” Gently, his hand moved, and unhooked the latch. “Please, make yourselves at home.”

 

* * *

 

“But how can it be the end of the search?” Iida asked, rinsing his toothbrush. “We still haven’t found the Cup of Ankh yet.”

 

“It could mean the end of the clues,” Midoriya replied, through a mouth of toothpaste foam. 

 

“But if there are no more clues, then what do we do next?”

 

“We should start by looking at the puzzle pieces again,” Todoroki said. “The two we have, anyway, the other five are still locked up in the attic.”

 

“He’s right,” Midoriya agreed. “The answers are somewhere in them, I just  _ know  _ it…”

 

Before the three boys could finish their morning routines, their conversation was interrupted by a shrill shriek from downstairs.

 

“M-Mice! Gross, gross, gross, gross!” Ashido stammered, loud enough for the whole house to hear, and then some. Not a moment later did another yelp come from nearby upstairs to match it.

 

“Eugh!” Kaminari stumbled out from the bedroom door, nearly tripping over his own feet. “Dude, there’s a  _ giant  _ freakin’ mouse in there!”

 

“Oh, holy fuck!” Even Bakugou submitted to the chaos.

 

“Woah!” Midoriya jumped, himself, practically leaping out of the bathroom. “There’s one in here, too!”

 

“Someone go get Mr. Aizawa!” Sero yelled out. “We've got an infestation!”

 

* * *

 

Hurried out of the house and into class, the nine students arrived just as quickly as other news did.

 

“Alright,” Ms. Kayama began. “As I’m sure you all know by now, we have a problem with mice in Anubis House. Therefore, we will be providing temporary accommodation for Anubis residents here in the main school building.” Todoroki raised his hand, and she pointed him out. “Yes? Any questions?”

 

“Er, yeah. Ms. K, don’t you think it’s a little strange that all the mice are white mice? How did we suddenly get an infestation of  _ pet  _ mice?”

 

She simply shrugged. “I have absolutely no idea. We’ll be asking animal control about that.”

 

“Oh!” Midoriya raised his hand, also. “Will we be able to go back to the house after class? You know, to get our stuff?”

 

She shook her head, firmly. “No. I want you all to remain here, until the situation is under control. Mr. Aizawa will bring all your overnight things. And as a special treat, the school will also be providing a takeout meal for you all this evening.” A series of contented murmuring, and whoops from Kaminari and Ashido, easily summarized their agreement. “Yes, there you go. Think of it as a little slumber party. Now, in the meantime, Mr. Aizawa will see to it that animal control takes care of the problem. They’ll be performing a thorough sweep through the house, as well as confiscating any unauthorized items.”

 

Midoriya hid his gasp, leaning in towards Todoroki to whisper. “They’re going to search the house? They’ll find everything, for sure!”

 

“You’re right…” he sighed. “What are we going to do?”

 

* * *

 

Though the house was off limits, nobody said anything about the bike shed. Bakugou easily exploited that loophole as he arrived right at the gong of the noon bell. 

 

Shimura, however, seemed to have been waiting- and despite him being right on time, his impatience showed.

 

“Alright, what have you got for me?”

 

“I-I listened in on one of their little meetings, and I found out some stuff. They’ve got a bottle of this elixir stuff hidden somewhere, and some weird objects- puzzle pieces, or whatever, that are supposed to be clues to the treasure?”

 

“I asked what you  _ have,  _ not what you  _ know.” _

 

Bakugou shuddered. “U-Um…”

 

“Are you in possession of the elixir?"

 

“N-No.”

 

“Any of these puzzle pieces?”

 

“...No.”

 

Shimura grabbed onto the collar of Bakugou’s shirt, and pulled him close. “You have got twenty-four hours to find me something solid, or so help me, I will mummify you  _ and  _ Kirishima alive. And believe me when I say, that is  _ not  _ a figure of speech.”

 

“O-Okay! I’ll get you something! I promise!”

 

He dropped him. “Make sure you do.”

 

* * *

 

The drama classroom in the school was the chosen campsite for the Anubis House residents. Pillows and sleeping bags scattered about the stage, the group of nine milled about and prepared their sleeping spots.

 

“We’ve got to get back to the house!” Midoriya whispered. “Now that we’re all over here, Aizawa’s gonna tear the place apart!”

 

“Midoriya,” Todoroki said, resting a hand on his shoulder. “It’ll be okay. The other puzzle pieces, Toshinori’s recordings, they’re all safe behind the panel, and we have have the rest of them.”

 

“That panel’s not going to stop him… he knows they’re in the house somewhere, and he’s not gonna give up until he finds them.”

 

“Midoriya?” Ms. Kayama, chaperoning the students, called for his attention. “Have you got everyone’s food orders?”

 

“Oh, yeah.” He showed her the written list he’d compiled. “But by the looks of Mina and Kaminari’s, they must think we’ll be here for a year…”

 

“Right, then, can you come with me over to Mr. Nezu’s office? He’ll have them rung up.”

 

“Yeah, sure.”

 

* * *

 

“Finally, Furvus…” Aizawa pet his stuffed cat. “Finally, we have the house all to ourselves.” He cast aside his coat, throwing it onto his desk chair. “Let the search begin.”

 

First, he began in the downstairs rooms. Though nothing of note appeared in plain sight, right away, he wasn’t afraid to dig deep, nor did he show any hesitation upstairs He left no pillow, no blanket, nor any entire mattress was left overturned in the bedrooms, as he ran a forceful fine toothed comb through the each and every room.

 

In the midst of his search, he froze, watching the glass bottle clink to the floor along with Midoriya’s mattress.

 

“No…” He scooped it from the floor. “No, no, no…!” He clawed off the cork, giving the bottle a deep inhale. He gave a sigh of relief to see the bottle was undamaged.

 

And yet, it was somehow the least of his worries.

 

* * *

 

“About forty minutes? Yeah, that should be great! Thank you!” Midoriya hung up the desk phone.

 

“Now, go back to the temporary base please,” Nezu said. “And  _ stay  _ there. Now, Nemuri, do you have a moment?”

 

While the two teachers conversed, Midoriya carefully closed the door behind him, and turned to look up at Todoroki. “I’ve got a plan!” He whispered, excitedly. He raised a key in his hand. “It just came to me!”

 

* * *

 

With the lower two floors all searched, Aizawa had but the attic to attack. Armed with a flashlight, he immediately got to work- but with much more care to the older, valuable contents of the attic. The rest of it, though, he cast to the side. Every cardboard box and broken heap of junk thumped against every wall of the attic.  _ Thump, thump, thump, knock… _

 

_...Hmm. _ He stopped, and stood up, facing the wall behind him, and knocked. Comparing it with the other nearby walls, the conclusion was undeniable; it was hollow. He wasted no time, picking up the metal chair nearby, and driving it into the wall.

 

_ Bang! Crack _

 

_ Bang! Crack _

 

_ Brrriiing! _

 

Through the repetitive sound of his digging, the phone rang one floor down.

 

“Go away, whoever you are!” he yelled. As he continued, the wall started to give. Bit by bit, it crumbled apart, revealing the space behind it.

 

“Oh, yes… oh, yes, it’s here!” Aizawa threw down the chair, and ripped what remained of the thin wall away with only his bare hands. But before he could step inside, the phone rang again- almost louder, what without his own sounds to muffle it.

 

He groaned, kicking the chair aside, and stomping away toward the stairs.

 

* * *

 

Midoriya and Todoroki raced together through the grassy forest and back toward the house, as daylight faded fast. “Okay,” Todoroki said, “If everything goes as planned, K and Nuzzle will call Aizawa once they realize they’re locked in.”

 

“Right. And once Aizawa leaves, we make our move.” They ducked behind the brick wall in the garden, watching and waiting. “B-But, what if they don’t call?”

 

“Hmm… maybe I’ll call him instead?” Todoroki joked, trying to ease the mood. “Hello, Mr. Aizawa, Nuzzle here!” he mimicked.

 

Midoriya laughed. “That was a terrible impression. Don’t stop working on that accent!”

 

* * *

 

Aizawa practically threw the phone off the desk. “What!?”

 

“A-Aizawa! Finally… er, we have a bit of a problem here.”

 

“I’m busy!”

 

“W-We’re locked in, you see. Could you perhaps bring over a spare key?”

 

Without a word, Aizawa groaned, and hung up. He grabbed his coat, throwing it on, and stomping toward the door.

 

* * *

 

“I see him!” Todoroki motioned him to follow, ducking and crawling around the brick wall. They watched as Aizawa hastened out the front door, and away from the house. “Okay, we’ve got ten minutes, max. Let’s go.”

 

Hurrying into the house, Midoriya and Todoroki gasped at what they saw. The entire living room was in shambles, all the furniture overturned and some even broken. “What did he do…?”

 

“What a mess…”

 

They hurried up the stairs, met with the same thing. “This is even worse than downstairs!” Midoriya waded through the mess, over to his bed.

 

“He’s really desperate, here, isn’t he..?”

 

“The elixir’s gone!” Midoriya cried.

 

“No..!”

 

“The photos too!”

 

“All our proof!”

 

Midoriya flushed pale in fear. “Todoroki… the puzzle pieces! In the attic, quick!”

 

* * *

 

Aizawa stomped up to the office door, wrestling his key ring from his belt, and unlocking the door.

 

_ “Deo gratias, _ Aizawa!” Nezu joyed.

 

“The door was locked from the outside,” Aizawa asserted.

 

“How could that be?” Kayama asked. “Who could have locked it?”

 

Aizawa hummed. “Have any of the students been in here this evening?”

 

“Well, Midoriya and Todoroki used my phone to order their class’s takeout meal.”

 

He sneered. “I smell a rat.” He stormed off. “Where are the students now?”

 

“Why, at the temporary base.”

 

“At least you hope that’s where they are.” Aizawa picked up his pace, all but bursting into the drama classroom, only to be stopped at the door be Uraraka.

 

“Oh, uh… s-sorry! You can’t go in there just yet.”

 

“Why not?”

 

“Well, uh… the other girls, they’re getting changed for bed!” Uraraka feigned a smile to hide her stalling.

 

“Oh, of course!” Nezu stepped back. “Well, in that case, we’ll just-”

 

“Where are the boys?” Aizawa demanded.

 

Uraraka dropped her smile. “Oh, uh… they’re in the bathroom!”

 

He turned around. “Nemuri, you go see what’s going on in there. I’ll check the restrooms.”

 

* * *

 

Midoriya hurried to fill his backpack with what he could grab from the panel- the puzzle pieces, and the box of Toshinori’s possessions, all accounted for. “It looks like that phone call came in the nick of time,” he said. 

 

“I know,” Todoroki agreed, “Just look what he did to the panel…”

 

“Okay.” Midoriya threw his bag over his shoulder. “I think I've got everything. We need to get back, before they realize we’re missing. Let’s go!”

 

* * *

 

Nemuri stepped back out of the door, just as Aizawa returned.

 

“All the girls are changed,” she said, “And the rest of the boys have been back for a while- except for Midoriya and Todoroki.”

 

Aizawa growled. “Out of my way!” He stomped into the room. All the other students milled about, immersed in their own businesses- but sure enough, after counting heads, he marked that Midoriya and Todoroki were absent. “You!” he pointed to Uraraka. “Where are Midoriya and Todoroki?”

 

“I-I don’t know…”

 

He glared. “They’ve gone back to the house, haven’t they?” he started off, dragging Nezu behind him. “We’ve been tricked!”

 

As Aizawa picked up his pace, storming straight to the door-

 

“Oh!”

 

“H-Hey, Mr. Aizawa, Mr. Nezu.”

 

“Where have you two been?” Nezu questioned. “I told you two to go back to the base.”

 

Midoriya and Todoroki raised the stacks of pizza boxes in response. “W-We got a call from the delivery guy!” Midoriya said. “Hence the delivery?”

 

“Yeah!” Todoroki nodded. “We heard he was by the main door, so we went to collect.”

 

Aizawa scoffed, turning to the other two teachers. “I’m going back to the house.” he cast a light glare to the two boys before heading off.

 

“Er, I don’t suppose either of the two of you have the key to my office?” Nezu asked.

 

They shook their heads and shrugged. “Nope.”

 

“Hmm. Well, alright, then.” He motioned them off.

 

Todoroki let out a sigh of relief as they closed the door behind them. “How lucky was that, bumping into the delivery guy? We had the perfect excuse!”

 

“Yeah!” Midoriya turned to Uraraka. “Mission accomplished. But… Aizawa’s got some of our stuff.”

 

“Oh no, not the puzzle pieces?”

 

“N-No! The puzzle pieces are safe with me, right here.” He leaned, showing his backpack. “But he’s taken back the elixir and all our photos.”

 

Uraraka sighed, also. “That’s too bad. But, at least we still have our other clues. Maybe we’re safe, for now.”

 

* * *

 

He returned immediately to the torn-down panel. Shoving the crumbling bits of wall aside, he stepped into the space, greeted immediately by the towering portrait.

 

He frowned, pulling it off the wall. “Oh, Toshinori, Toshinori, Toshinori…” He gazed into the eyes of the painted boy, his bright blue eyes illuminated by the dim light of the attic. “Why did you have to go and die on me, just when I’d found you again?” He squinted, his eyes catching something else on the painting. He slightly tilted his head, studying the column of symbols in the background of the portrait. "Interesting..."

 

He gently laid the frame aside, and turned to the floor. All that remained was a single cardboard box. He forced it open, digging through its contents. What turned up interested him as well.

 

He rolled the waxy black cylinder around in his hand, humming as he lay deep in thought. He turned to look outside of the space, catching sight of the antique phonograph sitting in the corner of the attic.

 

* * *

 

The phone on Nezu’s desk rang once again. “Hello..?” he greeted. “Ah, Aizawa. Well… had they been in the house?”

 

“I don’t think so, no. Although, I can’t be certain.”

 

“Did you find the Ankh objects?”

 

“No… They may be hidden somewhere outside the house.”

 

Nezu furrowed his eyebrows. “Is that a child I can hear?”

 

Aizawa turned to look at the phonograph, running smoothly next to his desk. “It’s an early recording of Toshinori Yagi, from his childhood. It would seem he thought my late father killed his parents.”

 

“Well, from what you’ve told us, Aizawa, he was certainly more than capable of it.”

 

Aizawa’s grip on the phone tightened. “Do not denigrate my father, Nezu. Remember that, if it wasn’t for him, our society would not even exist!” Without so much as a farewell, he slammed the phone back onto the register, and returned his full attention to the phonograph.

 

* * *

 

The student’s overnight adventure ended just as the sun rose, hurried out of school to prepare the classroom, as well as allow them the chance to get ready for the day. Upon returning to the house, Midoriya and Todoroki had to feign their surprise amongst the others, who were genuinely so at seeing the place so trashed.

 

“Just look at it..!”

 

“Did they send in exterminators, or a pack of elephants to deal with the mice?”

 

“Oh no…”

 

“Half the place is broken!”

 

Iida especially had wiser words to say. “This almost amounts to criminal damage! And as your class rep, I will not stand for it!”

 

“You can’t say the real reason why the place is trashed, though,” Tsuyu reminded him.

 

“Well, no, but true as that is, this is still completely inexcusable! I’m going to have a word with Mr. Nezu!”

 

“Yeah, go Iida!” Uraraka cheered for him.

 

“I still feel bad we can’t tell the others about it, though,” Tsu said. “Even if we did promise to keep this thing secret.”

 

“The less they know, the better,” Midoriya said. “We can’t put anyone else in danger- and trust me, right now, we’re  _ all  _ in danger.”

 

“We are?”

 

“Think about it- now Aizawa definitely knows we know. He’s taken all of our proof…”

 

“We’ve still got the puzzle pieces,” Uraraka pointed out.

 

“But with nowhere safe to hide them,” Midoriya countered. “That’s why I’m calling a club meeting- this lunchtime, at the willow, okay?”

 

* * *

 

“The house looks as though we’ve been burgled! And there are countless items severely damaged!” Iida ranted, chopping through the air with his rigid hand. “I feel that as the representative of my class, I should make the school feel aware of its responsibilities here.”

 

Kayama nodded. “You are absolutely right, Iida.”

 

He stopped. “I… am?”

 

“Yes, of course. Make a list of anything that’s been damaged or broken, and the school will pay full compensation.”

 

Iida straightened up, and took a bow. “I see… well, thank you, then. That was easy…” he turned around and left the office.

 

Nezu turned and gave her a questioning look, which she acknowledged. “We need to speak to Aizawa,” she said. “Thing have gotten out of hand- yet again.”

 

* * *

 

As Midoriya had promised, the five club members assembled at the old willow later that same day, right under the noontime sun. Midoriya layed out the blanket again on the floor, now with all seven of their puzzle pieces in tow.

 

“Okay, so there are seven puzzle pieces here. I think we should divide them up between us for safety.”

 

“Good idea!”

 

“I’ll take these two.” Todoroki picked up the sixth and seventh pieces- the fan-shaped piece from the chandelier, and the ‘end’ button.

 

“Can I have this one?” Uraraka reached for the third piece- the ring of numbers.

 

“Sure, if you like. How about you, Tsu?”

 

“Hmm…” Tsu thought for a moment, before leaning forward to pick up the puzzle box- the very first piece they’d found.

 

“I’ll hold on to these two, if you like.” Iida picked up the twin puzzle pieces- the fourth and fifth ones.

 

“I guess that leaves me with this, then.” Midoriya picked up the second piece- the golden rod. “Okay, let’s swear to carry these with us everywhere we go. Don’t let them out of our sight, and guard them with our lives.” He covered one eye with his hand. “Sibuna swear?”

 

The others nodded, and did the same. “Sibuna!”

 

 


	20. Beginning of the End

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Alternate titles include "It suddenly gets gay" and "I forgot this was supposed to have side TsuChako and KamiSero"

“You were _brilliant_ as school rep today, Iida!” Ashido cheered. True to their word, the school staff had overseen furniture repairs at the house over the course of the day, as well as provided compensation to its residents for personal items damaged. In just a matter of hours, the house was practically good as new.

 

“Thank you, Ashido. Of course I’m happy to help!”

 

“You can obviously convince the teachers of anything!” She smiled wider, gazing up at him.

 

He raised an eyebrow at her. “Ah, where might this be going?”

 

“Sooo,” she continued, “I’m sure you’ll be able to get them to let you organize and end-of-term dance!”

 

“A dance?”

 

“Yeah! You know, a fun night after our finals, partying till the sun comes up!” She punched at the air, excitedly. “Or, you know, at least until _ten o’clock,”_ she joked, mocking Aizawa’s voice. “Pretty please?”

 

Iida hummed. “A school dance… well, I don’t see why not. Alright, I’ll put in a word with them.”

 

_“Yay!”_

 

* * *

 

“Five, six, seven, eight…” Aizawa recited the numbers out loud, as he stepped down the stairs. He knew full well that Midoriya was up behind him, on the second floor, just leaving the bedrooms- he raised his voice just loud enough for him to hear. “It’s all beginning to make sense now, yes…” Midoriya tried to keep his head low, nonchalantly tiptoeing down the stairs himself. “Under the eighth stair, hmm?” Aizawa suddenly turned and looked back at him. “But what was under the eighth stair? A clue? The cylinders?”

 

“Uh… what?”

 

“Where are they, Midoriya?” his voice lowered.

 

“Um… I don’t know what you’re talking about.”

 

“Oh, I think you do.” without turning his gaze away, Aizawa stepped down the rest of the stairs. He grabbed the globe on the banister, and wrestled it off, making Midoriya wince at the rough scraping sound. He held the hollow globe in one hand, still not looking away. “I’m tired of all this fooling around, now tell me what you know.”

 

Midoriya shrunk back. He took a deep breath before he finally spoke again. “T-Toshinori said that they were all gone… h-he thought that Tenko Shimura had them. The only one that was left... was the one Todoroki and I found in there.” he nodded his head toward the space where the globe belonged. “B-But you confiscated it from us, so…”

 

Aizawa nodded, his seemingly perpetual frown set on his face. “I see.”

 

“Um…” Midoriya tried to play innocent. “What were they, anyway? Toshinori never really explained…”

 

His turned his head, looking at both sides before he responded. “It’s better you don’t know,” he murmured, monotonously. “Go on.”

 

Midoriya’s face fell, before he hesitantly stepped down, and walked off down the hall.

 

* * *

 

Iida marched into the living room, a confident smile on his face. “Mina Ashido,” he declared, to the girl who sat on the nearby couch, “You _shall_ go to the ball! Mr. Nezu has agreed to let us hold an end-of-term dance!”

 

“Aw, yes!” She squealed, excitedly.

 

“So long as we do the organizing,” he reminded.

 

“Great idea, Mina!” Uraraka said.

 

“Yeah!” Sero agreed. “It sounds like fun!”

 

Ashido turned to him. “I know, right? It’s a _perfect_ idea! You know, a nice night out, dancing, having fun…” she smirked, and her eyes darted between him, and Kaminari, as he worked with Todoroki. “...with the people you _like.”_

 

Sero’s smile turned upside down.

 

“A school dance, huh?” Todoroki joined in, as he set the table nearby. “Yeah, that does sound nice.”

 

Uraraka chuckled. “Sooo, Todoroki,” she said, “Who do you think you’re gonna go to the dance with?”

 

Todoroki scoffed, rolling his eyes as he turned his reddening face away.

 

“Oh, you know,” Ashido said, aiming a pair of finger guns at him. “Probably a certain messy-haired, playwriting scholarship student with a thing for red shoes and katsudon.”

 

“What!?” Todoroki nearly dropped the plate he was holding. “M-Midoriya?”

 

“Duh,” Uraraka laughed, “Of _course_ he’d be taking Midoriya. That is, if he ever gets around to asking him.”

 

“M-me and him?” He stuttered, “T-There’s no way, he and I are _clearly_ not a thing…”

 

“Oh, come on,” Ashido groaned, “We all know how secretly crazy you two are about each other! Well, not so secretly...”

 

“Yeah,” Uraraka agreed. “We’ve all seen the way you two look at each other, too. Like that time in front of the fireplace...”

 

“And during the school play,” Mina added.

 

“And when he fell off the ladder, and you caught him,” Uraraka added again.

 

“Uraraka, please…”

 

“And when Tsu did both of your numerology numbers…”

 

“Oh, what about that time with the cat?”

 

“There was also the time Bakugou switched his bed out with yours,” Iida said, as well. Todoroki glared at him, wondering if he should feel betrayed.

 

“And that time you were crawling in the bushes,” Sero snickered.

 

“Hmph,” Ashido muttered under her breath. “Like _you’re_ one to talk about being oblivious…”

 

“And _that’s_ all just when there’s been other people around. Our point is-” Uraraka stood up, to get a better look at him- “When are you gonna put Midoriya and the rest of us out of our misery?” she giggled.

 

“Hmm? What are you guys talking about?” Midoriya asked, walking into the living room with Tsuyu.

 

“Hey Midoriya, Tsu! Guess what, Mina and Iida are organizing an end-of-term dance!”

 

“Aw, that sounds great!” Tsu cheered.

 

“Oh, cool!” Midoriya said.

 

“Sooo,” Uraraka said, wandering over to where Todoroki stood. “Don’tcha have a certain _something_ to ask a certain _someone..?”_ She nudged him with her elbow. “Y’know, about the dance..?”

 

He pouted. “N-No…”

 

“Ugh!” Ashido groaned, louder. “Just _ask!”_ She gestured toward Midoriya and Tsuyu. “Or I’ll do it for you!” She turned to them. “Todoroki was wondering-”

 

“U-Uh, w-who _you’ll_ be going with, Tsuyu?” he blurted out.

 

Ashido reared her head back, and facepalmed, hard.

 

“Well duh,” Tsuyu chuckled, “Obviously I’m going with Ochako.”

 

“O-Oh, Uraraka?” he stuttered.

 

“Uraraka?” Midoriya asked.

 

“Yeah, of _course_ I’d be going to the dance with my girlfriend,” she said. “Not to mention that I’m _kind of_ a lesbian, Todoroki, remember?” she added. Meanwhile, Uraraka laughed up a storm.

 

“Oh, y-yeah, that’s right. Well, uh… okay.” Todoroki tossed down the rest of the dishes he was holding. “I, uh, I’m gonna go wash up.” He hurried out of the room.

 

“Oh… it looks like you’ve got a secret admirer, Tsu…” Midoriya muttered.

 

“What? No way!”

 

“He obviously wanted you to be his date, he was so nervous… he clearly likes you.”

 

“Oh, I don’t know about that...” Uraraka side-commented.

 

“Of course he does…” Midoriya sighed, walking back off, his voice cracking. “I feel so stupid..!”

 

Tsu blinked a few times. “Okay, did _he_ forget about the whole lesbian thing, too, or..?”

 

* * *

 

Hoping to take his mind off of things, Todoroki immediately busied himself in his corner of the bedroom. Just him, the two puzzle pieces he kept, and the book about Egypt from Toshinori’s possessions.

 

_What did any of it even mean? What were the puzzle pieces for?_

 

The “End” button was simple, and had no apparent interactive function like most of the other pieces. His other piece, however, drew his attention.

 

The curved plates of the puzzle piece attached to the short cylindrical shape on one end, which almost resembled an empty spool of thread. Frustrated, he tossed the object down on his pillow, unable to make anything of it, and turned back to the book.

 

He’d already gone through it time and time again, hoping to find anything that might prove useful- though he hadn’t marked anything as significant yet, he searched still, reading over the same pages again.

 

Countless different subjects- from other myths, to nonfictional history, the book had plenty in store- even an entire chapter about the eye of Horus- and yet, nothing more about the Cup than what they’d already found about. And so, he narrowed back down to those few pages.

 

“In the strife, the Cup was shattered- broken into seven pieces, and rendered powerless…” Todoroki read out loud. He squinted. “Seven..?”

 

Without looking away, he used his free hand to pick the object back up. Though Todoroki had examined it over and over, and over again, it was only then did his thumb come across the center, which pushed in with a resounding _click_ , followed by a sudden scraping of metal.

 

Startled, he dropped it again, watching as the plates spun out in a circle around the center- forming a bowl shape.

 

Todoroki laughed in awe. “That was unexpected...”

 

* * *

 

“Come _ooooonnn!”_ Ashido repeatedly pestered him, as she scrubbed at a dirty plate. “This could be the perfect chance! You won't know until you try!”

 

“Mina, quit it!” Sero groaned.

 

“I’m just saying!”

 

Midoriya chuckled a little, watching the two argue as he helped them clean.

 

“Hey, Midoriya?” Todoroki called for him, suddenly, at the kitchen doorway. “Do you have a minute? I need to speak to you.”

 

“Uh, sure! Okay.” He set down his sponge, and went to join him.

 

“Yeah, go for it!” Ashido rooted, nearby, before whirling back around to Sero. “Your turn, lover boy.”

 

“Mina!”

 

* * *

 

“Look at this!” Todoroki sat down with him on the living room couch, away from wandering eyes and ears. He flipped the book open to the marked page. “According to the legend, the Cup was broken into _seven_ pieces. Seven!”

 

“Right,” Midoriya said, curiously. “So, what’s your point?”

 

Todoroki pulled the gold objects from his pocket- the “End” button, and his other piece, which was folded back together. “The Cup is in _seven pieces,”_ he said again.

 

As he took in the realization, Midoriya gasped. “So… the puzzle pieces, they’re actually the broken pieces of the Cup?”

 

Todoroki nodded, excitedly. “That’s exactly what I’m saying. _Especially_ when you look at this.” He clicked the center of the sixth piece- which, as it turned out, held a small button on it. The plates spun back out yet again, forming the same bowl shape he’d seen before.

 

“Woah..!”

 

 _“This_ is the demisphere that was hidden below the chandelier,” Todoroki deduced with a confident smile.

 

“So… we have the Cup? We’ve had it all along, we just didn’t realize it!” Midoriya laughed. “We have to try to put it together!” He rushed to his feet. “Let’s call a Sibuna meeting! I’ll go tell the others!”

 

“Uh, M-Midoriya, wait a second!” Todoroki stopped him.

 

“Yeah? What’s up?”

 

He hesitated. “U-Um… It’s about this dance that Mina’s organizing.”

 

“O-Oh, don’t worry about it.” Midoriya mumbled.

 

“W-Wait, what?”

 

“I, uh… I’m… I’m sure you’ll find a nice girl to go with!”

 

“N-No, Midoriya-”

 

“I-I’m gonna go find, Iida, okay? You should tell Uraraka and Tsu! I-I’ll see you guys in a bit!” Midoriya hurried off, up the stairs, trying his hardest to ignore the pounding in his heartbeat.

 

* * *

 

_He had no choice. None._

 

That’s what he told himself, over and over, just to so much as get him on his feet. _He had no choice._ He didn’t want to, he didn’t _choose_ to carry his way into the bedroom- the door was cracked anyway, right? He didn’t _choose_ to tear up Deku’s corner of the room- again- it was just… there.

 

Likewise, _he_ probably didn’t choose to leave his bag just sitting there on his bed, free to be explored. And so he did- It took only moments for Bakugou to turn the backpack inside out, unearthing all its contents- and among them, a weird-looking golden object.

 

“Hey, Iida? You up here?”

 

Bakugou gave something between a groan and a sigh, annoyed to hear _his_ voice.

 

“Kacchan..? W-What are you..? Hey, what are you doing with that!?”

 

“Is this one of them?” Bakugou held the rod in a tight handed grip.

 

“N-No! Uh, I-I mean-”

 

“It is… isn’t it, Deku? I’m gonna have to borrow this.”

 

“Kacchan, please!” Midoriya ran up to him, grabbing for it, but Bakugou raised it high above both of their heads.

 

“I’m sorry, okay? Look, I-I _need_ to get him someth-!” Bakugou stopped himself, a second too late.

 

Midoriya froze, as well. “W-What do you mean, ‘him’..?”

 

He clenched his teeth. “Just..! Get out of my way!”

 

“It’s Shimura, isn’t it..?” Midoriya went pale. “You’re dealing with _him!?”_

 

“I said I’m sorry, okay?” Bakugou backed toward the door. “I really am! I… I don’t have a choice.”

 

* * *

 

Midoriya begrudgingly dragged himself out to the willow, far behind the other four. He kept his gaze to the forest floor, as the took his seat in the grass.

 

“So, what’s all this about?” Iida asked.

 

“Midoriya and I have this theory we want to try out!” Todoroki started, excitedly. “We think all the puzzle pieces are supposed to fit together, and form the Cup.”

 

“Oh!” Uraraka gasped. “Awesome theory!”

 

“Does everyone have their pieces?” Todoroki asked, as he grabbed his own from his bag.

 

“I’ve got mine!” Tsuyu said, handing out the box.

 

“Thanks, what about you, Iida?”

 

“Right here!”

 

“Uraraka?”

 

“Yep!” Uraraka added the ring to the pile of pieces between them.

 

“And you, Midoriya?”

 

Midoriya still looked down, not saying a word. He could practically feel all eight eyes on him.

 

“Midoriya..? Where’s yours?”

 

“Something wrong..?”

 

“I…” Midoriya choked out his words. “I… I haven’t got my piece!”

 

“What..?”

 

“Well, where is it?”

 

He shut his eyes, wincing. “Kacchan..! He stole it from me!”

 

“What!?” Uraraka shot up to her feet. “Bakugou!?”

 

Iida sighed, equally frustrated. “The nerve of that boy..!”

 

“It’s worse than that…” Midoriya murmured.

 

“In what way worse?” Tsu asked.

 

“H-He… He knows about us, and the Cup… and he gave the piece away- to Tenko Shimura.”

 

“What..?” Todoroki furrowed his eyebrows. “That guy from the newspaper you found?”

 

Midoriya finally looked up. “W-Well, yeah... But he’s a lot more than just that.”

 

* * *

 

He ran his hands all along the puzzle piece, savoring the glimmer of the gold in the sunlight. “At last… this is one of the relics. It _has_ been a long wait…” He hugged it to his chest. “You’ve done well, Bakugou. Now, I need you to bring me the rest of these.” Shimura pocketed the rod.

 

“W-Wait, you can’t keep it.”

 

He frowned. “And why not?”

 

“Because, if they realize it’s gone, they’ll know I’m onto them!”

 

Shimura scoffed, and rolled his eyes. “That’s not my problem.”

 

“W-What?”

 

“Now call me when you find the rest of them.” He turned on his heel, and disappeared into the surrounding woods.

 

* * *

 

Bakugou’s misfortune didn’t end after that, not even after he’d gotten back to the house. There, they’d stayed, waiting for him, all prepared to confront him when he’d entered the living room.

 

“Alright, you asshole!” Uraraka shouted, much to the others surprise. “We need to know _exactly_ what you told this Shimura guy, and how much he knows!”

 

Bakugou growled. “Thanks a fuckin’ bunch, Deku!”

 

“Leave him alone,” Todoroki bit back, glaring hard daggers his way. “Midoriya’s already told us all about Shimura, and the things he’s done. Now it’s your turn to spill.”

 

“And why should I?”

 

“You want to live, don’t you?” Uraraka argued again.

 

“Pssh. I’m not fuckin’ scared of you, round face.”

 

“We were thinking more about Shimura,” Even Tsuyu sassed back.

 

Bakugou blinked. “...R-Right… _him,_ I’m scared of…”

 

“So, let’s get this straight,” Iida said. “You sold Midoriya out- and all of us, in fact, your _friends,_ and for what?

 

“Friends!? Who fuckin’ said you idiots were my _friends?_ You’ve made it pretty fuckin’ clear that we’re not!”

 

“Listen, Kacchan,” Midoriya finally spoke up, for himself. “If Shimura gets his hands on all of those pieces, who knows what he’ll be capable of?”

 

“World domination?” Uraraka suggested. “The man sounds like a control freak.”

 

“You have to work _with_ us here, Bakugou!” Todoroki asserted. “Arguing isn’t getting us anywhere!”

 

“What’s so fucking special about those things, anyway?” Bakugou yelled back. “Shimura told me he was looking for treasure, some kind of Egyptian cup. And who’s to say that I wouldn’t be better off sticking to my original plan? I need to give him what he wants, and get him off my ass!”

 

“You do that, and we’ll tell the teachers!” Uraraka said.

 

He raised an eyebrow. “The fuck have they got to do with him?”

 

“Uh, everything!” Tsuyu replied. “I’m sure they’ll be happy to learn that you’ve been feeding their archenemy vital information.”

 

Bakugou silently fumed, having no other argument to add.

 

“Kacchan…” Midoriya said again, “We have to work together. It’s safer that way, for all of us.”

 

“...Fine,” he finally caved. “What do I have to do?”

 

Midoriya nodded. “I might have an idea.”

 

* * *

 

He picked up the phone as soon as it started to ring. “Hello?”

 

“Hey, Shimura?”

 

“Bakugou? What have you got?”

 

“I have the other puzzle pieces for you.”

 

He smirked. “Finally, some good news. I’ll meet you in the usual place.”

 

“N-No! No, no. It’s kind of complicated.”

 

“...In what way?”

 

“They’re hidden in the house. I know where they are, but I need some help.”

 

“Why’s that?”

 

“I can’t get into the place where they’re hidden, not by myself. Listen,  I’ll sneak down and unlock the front door after lights out- everyone else will be in bed. Oh, and bring the other piece with you.”

 

“...Why?”

 

“Because you need it to get into the hiding place.”

 

Shimura squinted, waiting a moment to speak again. “How… many pieces are there?”

 

“Seven, yours included.”

 

He grinned. “I knew it..!”

 

“S-So I’ll meet you tonight, yeah? Say, midnight?”

 

“Midnight,” he agreed. A click, and the line shut off. Bakugou shut his off, as well. Finally then did he work the courage to look back up, at the group still staring at him.

 

“You did really great!” Uraraka said. “And you didn’t wet your pants, so... bonus!”

 

* * *

 

“It’s ten o’clock! You all know what that means!” As always, as he did every night, Aizawa announced the curfew and punctuated it with the drop of a pin. _Perfect silence._

 

He’d retired to his office, leaving the whole house silent- for the next two hours.

 

All sat in wait, Bakugou was the first to go- his role was easily the most important. Slowly, he crept his way down each stair, one by one. The gong of the clock striking midnight made his heart run even faster, as he stepped down of the last step, and up to the front door. He gasped as it swung open, just as soon as he turned the deadbolt.

 

“Where are they!?” Shimura whispered, hurriedly.

 

“They’re in the cellar.” He pointed toward the kitchen.

 

“That isn’t the way to the cellar.”

 

“Isn’t it?” He waved for him to follow.

 

* * *

 

Midoriya knelt to his knees, and clicked the eye of Horus into its socket. The door of the false oven reared up to its roof, but he reached in and pulled it back down- closed, but still unlocked. He stood back up, and ducked into the nearby laundry room, hiding himself just in time to watch Bakugou creep into the kitchen, with Shimura behind him.

 

“I’ll need the puzzle piece,” he whispered.

 

“What for?”

 

“It’s the key, just let me see it.”

 

Shimura glared, but simply sighed and reached into his pocket, and took out the rod.

 

Bakugou fit the mouth of the piece over the indent on the door- it didn’t actually fit, of course, but he hoped it was convincing enough. Then, the pushed the door back up into the oven.

 

“Intriguing…” Shimura grinned. “Alright, after you.”

 

“Huh?”

 

“Go on, after you.”

 

“R-Right, okay…” Bakugou got down to his knees, and crawled his way into space. Shimura followed behind him.

 

“Oh no..!” Midoriya hustled out of the nearby room. “Kacchan wasn’t supposed to go down there with him!”

 

“We can’t lock them _both_ down there!” Todoroki agreed.

 

“What do we do..?” Iida wondered with them.

 

“What’s happening?” Tsu leaned into the kitchen from the hallway, Uraraka behind her. “Do we go get Aizawa yet?”

 

“Where’s Bakugou?” Uraraka asked. The boys simply looked between each other, not offering a verbal response. “Oh… no… this is bad!”

 

“It was such a simple plan..” Midoriya lamented. “Get the puzzle piece off Shimura, lock him in the cellar, and get Aizawa. Once he realizes they aren’t down there, who knows what he’s gonna do to Kacchan?”

 

* * *

 

Bakugou stumbled out past the panel on the other end, and into the cellar. Shimura pushed his way up to his feet, with Bakugou stumbling next to him.

 

Right in front of them was one of the chemical tables. “Still trying with the elixir, are we, Shouta?” He smirked, chuckling. While he busied his attention there, Bakugou slowly backed away.

 

“Yes..!” Shimura shoved several of the bottles aside, grasping one off the table. “Yes!” He yanked the cork off, and downed nearly all of the contents inside. “Now… where are you going?”

 

Bakugou froze, leaning against the wall, just inches away from the passage. “W-Wha..?”

 

“Where are the Ankh pieces, Bakugou?” He stomped up to him. “Well..?”

 

* * *

 

“Okay, guys,” Todoroki started, “I say we carry on with the plan as if it were just Shimura down there. Iida, get ready to slam the door.”

 

“On it!”

 

“Uraraka, Tsu, you two go upstairs and get Aizawa.”

 

“Right!” They nodded.

 

“Midoriya, you go hide in the laundry room. If Bakugou comes out, and you get the chance to lock Shimura down there, do it.”

 

He nodded, too. “Got it.”

 

“Alright, everyone.” Todoroki covered his eye with his hand. “Sibuna?”

 

“Sibuna!” After sharing their salute, the club split up, to their individual spots. Midoriya ducked back into the laundry room, while the other four made their way to the foyer. Uraraka and Tsuyu tiptoed upstairs, and Todoroki stayed with Iida, waiting to give him his signal.

 

“Get ready, and… now!”

 

Iida pushed the front door out, and pulled it back in, hard.

 

_SLAM!_

 

* * *

 

Shimura stopped. “What was that?”

 

“U-Um, Aizawa! He must be back!” Bakugou lied. “Listen, I’ll go up there and stall him, make sure he doesn’t come down here-”

 

“No, no, stay where you are,” Shimura asserted.

 

“B-But, what if he..?”

 

Shimura grabbed him by his wrist. “Stay. Where. You. Are!”

 

* * *

 

Aizawa, who had fell asleep at his desk, jolted awake at the noise. Right on cue, the girls were at him door.

 

“Um… we think someone might have broken in!” Uraraka acted.

 

“Y-Yeah! it sounded like it came from the cellar,” Tsu agreed.

 

Aizawa sighed, still rousing from sleep. “I’ll go and see…” He trudged down the stairs, and Todoroki and Iida backed into the living room. From their different stations, the four watched as Aizawa took his keys and unlocked the cellar door.

 

* * *

 

“Who’s there?" Aizawa called out into the cellar. He carefully stepped down each step, glaring around every inch of the room.

 

Shimura kept his hand planted over Bakugou’s mouth, watching from around the corner. Aizawa stopped to rearrange one of the tables of chemicals, and Shimura eased his grip. Bakugou stayed put, watching him turn the corner.

 

“Hello, Shouta.”

 

He whirled around. “What!? Y-You..!”

 

“Sorry I can’t stay, but…” he raised the bottle. “Thanks for the drink.”

 

“No!” Aizawa rushed forward, reaching for the bottle. Shimura shoved him back, sending him falling the floor with a crash.

 

Taking advantage of the chaos, Bakugou hurriedly pushed his way back through the panel and into the passage.

 

* * *

 

“Come on, Kacchan..!” Midoriya kneeled in front of the open oven, watching intently for any sign of movement. “I don’t want to lock you down there, too!” He watched still, but nothing happened. He sighed. “Sorry...” Midoriya reached back into his shirt, taking the locket back out and preparing to shut the-

 

“No!” Bakugou gasped, hastily grabbing his wrist.

 

“Ah! K-Kacchan!” Midoriya took his free hand, and pulled him the rest of the way out with a heavy grunt.

 

“Quick, lock him in! Now!”

 

Midoriya hurriedly grabbed the locket again. His hands shook as he tried to line the eye back up with the oven- only to be stopped again, by yet another grip on his wrist. Only this time, it was _much_ tighter.

 

Midoriya screamed, struggling against the suffocating grasp and the horrifyingly sharp fingernails that clawed at his hand.

 

 


End file.
